It's like That (Mariah Carey song)

Infobox Single
Name = It's like That

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Artist = Mariah Carey featuring Jermaine Dupri & Fatman Scoop
Album = The Emancipation of Mimi
Released = January 25 2005 (US)
March 28 2005 (UK)
Format = Digital download, CD single, 12" single
Recorded =
Genre = Dance-pop, hip hop
Length = 3:23
Label = Island
Writer = Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, Johnta Austin
Producer = Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal
Certification = Gold (ARIA)
Misc = Extra chronology
Artist = Mariah Carey
Type = singles
Last single = "U Make Me Wanna"
(2004)
This single = "It's like That"
(2005)
Next single = "We Belong Together"
(2005)Extra chronology
Artist = Jermaine Dupri
Type = singles
Last single = "Wat Da Hook Gon Be"
(2005)
This single = "It's like That"
(2005)
Next single = "I Think They Like Me"
(2005)Extra track listing
Album = The Emancipation of Mimi
Type = studio
prev_track =
prev_no =
this_track = "It's like That"
track_no = 1
next_track = "We Belong Together"
next_no = 2

"It's like That" is a song written by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal, and Johnta Austin, and produced by Carey, Dupri, and Seal for Carey's tenth studio album, "The Emancipation of Mimi" (2005). It borrows the hook "it's like that y'all" from the Run-D.M.C. tracks "Hollis Crew" (1984) and "Here We Go (Live)" (1983), showing the strong influence of old school hip hop on Carey's 2005 sound. The song also shared its name with another Run DMC song. It was the first single to be released from the album, in 2005 (see 2005 in music). It was a top twenty hit in several countries, including the United States, and was nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance".

Background

"It's like That" was among the last songs recorded for "The Emancipation of Mimi". After recording nearly twenty tracks for the album, Carey was satisfied with her output, but DefJam President L.A. Reid thought something was missing. He asked her to write more songs with Dupri, and the results were two of the most popular songs on the album, "It's like That" and "We Belong Together". Although the song has rapped/spoken parts from Dupri and Fatman Scoop, they are not credited for technical reasons . The protagonist of this club-inspired track declares that she "came to have a party" and briefly (jokingly) dabbles in alcohol and marijuana usage. She then notes that "it's her night" and relaxes, before chanting "It's like that, y'all".

Chart performance

"It's like That" was one of Carey's biggest commercial successes in years, reaching number sixteen on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100. The song's relatively high peak position on the Hot 100 contrasted with the chart performance of Carey's previous singles as a lead artist released between 2001 and 2004, most of which had failed to chart on the Hot 100 or even its "bubbling under" chart. It stayed in the top forty for fifteen weeks and was ranked sixty-ninth on the Hot 100 2005 year-end chart. It was certified platinum by the RIAA, becoming Carey's first platinum digital single. In May 2006, over a year after its official release, the song charted in the top forty on the "Billboard" Hot Adult R&B Airplay.

The single was slightly more successful outside the U.S. It reached the top twenty in Germany, France and Norway, the top ten in Australia and the top five in United Kingdom, where it peaked at number four. "It's like That" became Carey's seventh number-one hit on the J-Wave Tokio Hot 100 airplay chart, but it reached only number 130 on the official Japanese Oricon single sales chart.In Spain it reached number one on Cadena 100 Hot list.

Remixes and music video

An official remix produced by Scott Storch has a more Middle Eastern flavor and a rap by Fat Joe. Dance remixes, with re-recorded vocals by Carey, were produced by David Morales. Peter Rauhofer and Pound Boys (a.k.a. Mayhem & Craig C.) also remixed "It's like That", but their remixes were not released. Because many singles by 2005 did not have commercial CD single releases, the remixes were only released on twelve-inch vinyl maxi single. Two maxi singles were released.

The single's video was directed by Brett Ratner, who directed some of Carey's other videos. Initially, Carey had wanted Paul Hunter to direct the video. Carey, a close friend of Ratner, was reluctant at first because Ratner had stopped directing videos for the most part, but after hearing a proposed treatment, she approved. The main setting of the video, which was shot on location at Greystone Park Mansion in Beverly Hills, California, is a party at a mansion turned nightclub on the night before Carey's character's wedding to Eric Roberts. Several guests are seen wearing masks, and there are celebrity cameo appearances by Brian McKnight, Randy Jackson, and the two featured rappers on the track, Dupri and Fatman Scoop. Carey is singing along to Fatman Scoops's outro rap when she sees a party guest (played by Wentworth Miller) taking off his mask and revealing himself to be an ex-lover of hers. The video ends on a cliffhanger, which leads to the video for the album's second single, "We Belong Together" (the two videos were filmed simultaneously).

Track listings

;UK CD single/European CD single
#"It's like That" (album version)
#"It's like That" (David Morales radio mix)

;UK CD maxi single/European CD maxi single
#"It's like That" (album version)
#"It's like That" (no rap)
#"It's like That" (David Morales club mix)
#"It's like That" (David Morales classic mix)
#"It's like That" (Stereo Experience)

Charts

References