Still Dreaming: Celebrating 30 years of Mariah Carey’s 'Daydream'

Still Dreaming: Celebrating 30 years of Mariah Carey’s 'Daydream' | Daily Tribune

That creative risk paid off: Carey became the first female artist in history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Fantasy,” a feat that placed her alongside legends like Michael Jackson. “Fantasy” would go on to reign atop the charts for eight consecutive weeks, solidifying its place as a cultural moment as much as a musical one. Carey later said, “Even the critics liked 'Fantasy' and the remix (some really liked it) — the entire Daydream album did amazingly well: certified diamond.”

The album delivered hit after hit, right from the sweet and bouncy “Always Be My Baby,” a Jermaine Dupri-produced earworm that has become one of Carey’s signature tracks, to the heart-wrenching “One Sweet Day,” her emotional duet with Boyz II Men that held the record for the longest-running No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks — a record untouched for over two decades. Very later on, the album was included on the List of 200 Definitive Albums in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But beyond these chart-toppers lie some of Carey’s most introspective and underrated gems. The shimmering “Underneath the Stars,” a nostalgic ode to a hazy, dream-like romance, remains a fan favorite — and this writer’s personal favorite song of Carey’s. Tracks like “Melt Away,” which was co-written with Babyface, and the raw, revealing closer “Looking In” show a vulnerability and artistic maturity that resonated far deeper than radio-friendly singles.

Yet, as Carey herself has noted, not everything was a “sweet, sweet fantasy” behind the scenes. “Though I was recording Daydream, parts of my life were still quite a nightmare,” she wrote in her memoir. While her music sounded hopeful, her personal life was constricted and emotionally draining. Trapped in a suffocating marriage and battling for autonomy, Carey channeled her pain and longing for freedom into her songwriting. The quiet sadness of “Looking In,” a haunting piano ballad where she sings:
She smiles through a thousand tears / And harbors adolescent fears / She dreams of all that she can never be / She wades in insecurity / And hides herself inside of me.
This gave listeners a rare glimpse behind the polished image of the Songbird Supreme. For many fans, Daydream remains the album where Mariah’s true voice — not just her vocal range, but her emotional range — fully began to emerge.

Despite Daydream’s critical acclaim and massive commercial success, the album infamously walked away empty-handed at the 1996 Grammy Awards, despite being nominated in six categories including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. The snub remains one of the most notorious in Grammy history, and to this day, sparks debate and frustration among fans and critics alike. For many, it too was an undeniable case of the industry failing to recognize a groundbreaking body of work from a female artist at the peak of her powers.

And perhaps one of the most fascinating pieces of the Daydream era lore is the secret grunge project Carey recorded in parallel, which was a stark contrast to the polished pop production she was known for. Under the pseudonym “Chick,” Mariah explored a raw, alternative rock side that shocked even her most loyal fans when she revealed its existence decades later. In her memoir, Carey said the music was a form of emotional catharsis and a rebellious outcry against her controlled environment. Though some snippets and credits have surfaced, the full version of the project still hasn’t seen the light of day, leaving fans endlessly curious about the shadow album born from the same era that gave us Daydream.