Mariah Carey Loverboy video 4K restoration

It’s no secret (or at least it shouldn’t be) that car racing/the “racetrack culture” and aesthetic were having kind of a moment in the 2000s. From the launch of The Fast and the Furious franchise to an entire scene devoted to that environment in Charlie’s Angels to Gwen Stefani’s “Crash” from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. to Lindsay Lohan starring in a reboot of Herbie: Fully Loaded, fossil fuel emission was in the air—literally and figuratively. Adding to that pollution was Mariah Carey with her racetrack-themed video for “Loverboy,” the lead single from 2001’s Glitter Soundtrack. Or, more to the point, “Loverboy (Remix)” was—with its jam-packed features including Ludacris, Da Brat, Shawnna and Twenty II. The former two rappers being the most “clout-laden” of that era. In fact, Shawnna was still so new that she hadn’t even yet released her debut album when she appeared on Carey’s single and in her David LaChapelle-directed video, which has now been restored to “glorious 4K.” This done as part of the hype machine behind rolling out the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the soundtrack that, like the movie itself, didn’t quite get its due at the time.

And yes, that lack of “proper due,” as Carey would tell you, is related to Glitter—the movie, not the soundtrack—being released ten days after 9/11, when talk of music and pop culture in general fell by the wayside for a bit as George W. Bush and co. prattled on about punishing the “evil doers” responsible (granted, Carey might have actually been better off with no one having much interest in seeing or talking about the movie, lest it be even more universally panned). However, the soundtrack was available almost a full month prior, on August 18th, so, technically, Carey can’t blame 9/11 on the lack of attention to that. At least compared to her previous albums, which saw more success and longevity on the charts.

What’s more, “Loverboy” marked the first time that a Carey lead single not only didn’t make it to number one (boxed out by none other than Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious”), but also didn’t get the same amount of radio airplay as usual. Even though, undoubtedly, Carey was an integral part of helping to usher in the “hip hop-centric” flavor of just about every mainstream single in the early and mid-2000s. A “flavor” she had already been starting to incorporate ever since putting Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the “Fantasy” remix in 1995 (never mind that the then-named “Puff Daddy” was heavily involved, complete with offering some of his own background vocals on the track).

The video for “Loverboy (Remix)” makes her contribution to that cultural shift well-known, immortalizing it as a matter of fact. And what it also immortalizes is Carey tapping into whatever the bizarre obsession with race cars was at the time (even Britney Spears made it a point to show up as the Grand Marshal for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in 2001—in part because of her brand deal with Pepsi, who sponsored the event). Something that Charli XCX surely would have gotten on board with (or “rolled with,” if you prefer), considering her own special genre of “car songs” that include—as just a tip of the iceberg—“Vroom Vroom,” “3AM (Pull Up),” “Roll With Me,” “Backseat,” “White Mercedes,” “Crash,” “Speed Drive” and “Apple.”

Indeed, one imagines XCX practically splooging over the ultra-saturated (and even more so now because of this 4K restoration) look of the cars speeding around the track as Carey prances about in ass-baring jean shorts and a black-and-white-checkered bra top (a nod to the racing flag that signals, through its waving, the end of a race). Though that’s hardly the full extent of her array of iconic and skimpy ensembles in this particular video (see also: her glittery American flag-patterned bra top, her “bandana” bra top and her hot pink, sexy-ified “firesuit,” for a start).

To be sure, the costuming is about eighty percent of the video’s visual worth. Aside from the many cameos from the featured artists—namely, as mentioned, Ludacris, Shawnna, Da Brat and Twenty II—driving in racing(ish) cars of their own (except that Shawnna is forced to share one with Luda, since the two were kind of a “set” in that era). And, after letting said rappers say some of their piece, Carey takes over the lyrical spotlight by getting all gushy about her “loverboy” in a way that’s part Lana Del Rey, part Charli as she coos, “I got myself a lover who knows what I like/When he invites me over, I come every time/And when my sugar daddy takes me for a ride/Whatever way we go, it’s delirium time.”

As it will be “delirium time” for anyone who feels that Glitter and its soundtrack were underappreciated in their day, with the twenty-fifth anniversary edition also slated to be packed with other previously unreleased versions and remixes designed to make Glitter feel all sparkly and new again. Complete with the much-discussed “Firecracker” version of “Loverboy” (though it already appeared on The Rarities), a sample that Carey has no problem reminding was “stolen” by Jennifer Lopez (but really Tommy Mottola) for her song, “I’m Real” (also featured on its successful remix with Ja Rule). A single that would come out on J.Lo well before “Loverboy” on the Glitter Soundtrack. Thus, adding to the list of reasons Carey subsequently refused to touch the sample with a ten-foot pole, swapping it out for Cameo’s “Candy” (which, honestly, sounds better in the end).

And so, including this version on the updated soundtrack provides Glitter and “Loverboy” itself with the retroactive “justice” it has been missing for so long. To boot, with this 4K restoration that Charli XCX could easily wank to, Carey also added that it’s “giving the Loverboy video the justice it deserves! 🏁 #JusticeForGlitter.” And, apparently, for anyone who identifies as the kind of symphorophiliac paraded in David Cronenberg’s Crash. For what was Glitter if not a car crash? (Or perhaps “plane crash” is the more apropos term here.)