
by Sereth Wynters, Contributing Writer
Mariah Carey has finally released the long anticipated single, “Triumphant.” In a press interview today, the songstress said writing the mid-tempo track helped her cope with the loss of her dear friend and contemporary Whitney Houston and the prior hospitalization of her husband, TV personality Nick Cannon. I did not get that idea when I first heard it. I thought the song was more about the period during early 2000’s when the media counted her out and deemed her career over after down-sliding record sales and a bout with exhaustion.
“Triumphant’s” catchy chorus is the glue that holds the entire song together. Without a well written chorus, the song could have been a huge mess. Encouraging the listener to ‘reach for the stars’ and ‘be all that you are,’ the hook is very uplifting; giving you the urge to sing it out loud because it fills you with so much hope. While featured rapper Meek Mill’s verse was written very well (especially compared to a lot of his other songs), cohort Rick Ross’ verse was a little messy and irrelevant. I did not understand why he was “throwing big money as she dances on the pole.” It’s hard to connect majority of his verse to the general theme.
As far as the vocal production, the layering was overdone (as can be heard in the chorus). You could hardly understand what Carey is trying to say. Mariah’s chest voice and whistle register are sounding very healthy, but only a live performance will tell if it’s just a studio enhancement. She surprised me adding a whistle note to this song. I personally felt like it wouldn’t fit this type of track, but it was perfect how she placed her notes to crescendo from a layered belt. It added subtlety and the right amount of climax to lend to a smooth transition down into a falsetto. Having an urban feel and a slight hint of violins, the musical production is very sleek with nicely built climaxes that compliment the vocal. I like that the vocals are not drowned out by the back beat. “Triumphant” is radio friendly and bound to inspire many. You can listen to the track here.