"Obsessed" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009). The song was written and produced by Carey, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, and was released as the album's lead single on June 16, 2009, by Island Records. The song draws musical influences from contemporary R&B and hip hop, and is built around a thumping bassline. Additionally, the song is accentuated by hand claps, while Carey's voice is processed with Auto-Tune. Lyrically, the song describes Carey's dilemma regarding constant claims of a prior relationship from rapper Eminem, although he is not specifically mentioned.
The song received generally positive reception from music critics. Some praised the song itself, highlighting it as a stand-out track from Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel and complimenting its clever lyrics and strong beat while others criticized the usage of Auto-Tune on Carey's vocals. At the time of the song's release, "Obsessed" was the center of controversy, as critics and the media suggested Carey was aiming it at Eminem, who had negatively referenced her several times in his songs. Eminem released a song called "The Warning" in response.
"Obsessed" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Carey's 27th top-ten hit on the chart and her only top-ten to miss the top five on the chart. In terms of total top-ten chart entries among all artists in the chart's history, Carey tied for fifth place after the song's peak, with Janet Jackson and Elton John. Internationally, the song was not released throughout parts of Europe, as Island Records decided to give priority to the album's second single, Carey's cover of Foreigner's hit "I Want to Know What Love Is". "Obsessed" peaked within the top-ten in France and Italy; and in the top 20 in Australia, Belgium, Canada and Japan.
The accompanying music video for "Obsessed" was directed by Brett Ratner, who Carey has previously worked with on many of her videos. Throughout the video, Carey plays both herself and the character of the male stalker, dressed in a bellhop uniform, as well as a gray hoodie and sweatpants. Two videos were filmed for "Obsessed", one for the original version and one for the remixed version, which features rapper Gucci Mane. The video was shot predominantly at the Plaza Hotel and on the streets of New York City. After several photographs of Carey dressed as the stalker were leaked, tabloids immediately compared Carey's costume to Eminem's usual attire. Carey performed the song live on the fourth season of America's Got Talent, Today, and throughout her Angels Advocate Tour (2009–10). Both the song and video contain references to the 2004 film Mean Girls, starring Lindsay Lohan.
Background
In 2008, Carey had suddenly cancelled a concert tour supporting her eleventh studio album, E=MC². There was heavy speculation in the media that Carey had become pregnant, and had abandoned the plans for a tour as a result. The singer had later admitted that she was pregnant during that time period, and had suffered a miscarriage, leading to the cancellation of the tour.
Carey then opted to record a new album, that would be released during the summer of 2009. During the later stages of the project, Carey released the title, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, that would serve as the singer's twelfth studio album. She explained how plans for a ballad to be released were put on hold, because a new song she had written "needed to be heard". On June 9, 2009, she wrote on her official Twitter account: "Seriously, this is one of my favorite songs ever. I love the whole album. I'm completely immersed in it. I can't wait for you to hear it", and announced its title as "Obsessed". Later that week, The-Dream, who co-wrote the song with Carey, claimed that the song was definitely aimed at someone in particular, and that it would upset them greatly. The song was transmitted digitally to radio stations on June 16, 2009, for immediate airplay and made its debut on Chicago radio station B96 at 2:00 pm. An official remix of the song, featuring rapper Gucci Mane, premiered on the same day.
Artwork The single cover artwork for "Obsessed" features Carey leaning against a dirty concrete wall. She is shown wearing black underwear and a matching sheer top, with a black bra visible through the shirt. Carey's hair is featured in a long and wet style, cascading over her shoulders and right breast. The word "Obsessed" is written in large white letters over Carey's body. An anonymous writer for MTV described it as "wet and raunchy", while writing, "As you can see here the star has chosen a sexy shot to launch material from her next album. Mariah is shown busting out of a revealing black top and wearing black underwear."
Controversy Background In 2001, Carey decided to venture into the film industry with her debut acting role, Glitter. It was a critical and commercial failure, which led to Carey's $100 million recording contract being bought out by Virgin Records, who paid her $49 million to part ways. Carey also had personal life conflicts and erratic behavior in public appearances, leading to the singer being hospitalized. During this period in Carey's personal life, American rapper Eminem claimed to date Carey for six months. After this Eminem referred to Carey in several of his songs in a negative light, feeling angered by her disowning their alleged relationship. The back-and-forth through songs continued with "Clown" on Carey's album Charmbracelet, her 2001 interview tapes being faked as voice recordings being played at Eminem's Anger Management Tour. After playing the excerpt, Eminem would pretend to be sick before launching into his song "Puke".
On May 15, 2009, Eminem released his sixth studio album, Relapse, which included a song titled "Bagpipes from Baghdad" in which he addresses Mariah's denial that their relationship ever happened. In the lyrics, Eminem expresses that he's not done talking about the subject: "I want another crack at ya" and "Nick Cannon better back the fuck up. I'm not playing, I want her back, you punk." After the song's release, Cannon went on his website, defending Carey and expressing his disgust at Eminem's comments. Following Cannon's comments, Eminem responded sarcastically. He clarified that the song was actually "wishing the couple the best", and that it was a misunderstanding. In an interview with BBC Radio, Eminem clarified that although contained a "harsh" line, he meant well. He later commented that he respected Cannon for his response, and that he expected him to stand up for his wife.
Aftermath After Carey premiered "Obsessed" on June 16, 2009, the media frenzied and began speculating the song was targeting at Eminem, due to its lyrics and overall message. Following the song's accompanying music video, which featured Carey playing a role that resembled the rapper, critics considered it Carey's response to Eminem's "Bagpipes from Baghdad". Soon after both the song and video's release, the rapper released another song, titled "The Warning" on July 30, 2009, which he claimed to be a retaliation. The song's lyrics allude to his supposed relationship with the singer, the music video for "Obsessed", and pictures and proof he claims to have of the couple. The song begins "Only reason I dissed you in the first place is because you denied seeing me. Now I'm pissed off", before describing Carey's impersonation of him in her video, "Oh gee, is that supposed to be me in the video with the goatee?/ Wow Mariah, didn't expect ya to go balls out." Eminem continues describing a near-sexual encounter with the singer, threatening to release voice-mails and pictures he still has in his possession. Additionally, the song features a female's voice, unknown whether or not Carey's, where she calls herself Mary Poppins, as well as several intervals of her laughter. In the aftermath of the releases, Cannon was questioned regarding the inspiration of "Obsessed", and whether it was ever directed at Eminem: She's Mariah Carey. She's not beefin', she's a vegetarian. People keep saying ['Obsessed'] was directed at certain people. To be completely honest, she did the record 'cause she's a huge fan of this movie Mean Girls, and there's a line in the movie where one of the girls is like, 'Why are you so obsessed with me?' She says that at the beginning of the song, and that's where the concept came from. But, you know, art imitates life.
Composition
"Obsessed" draws influences from the R&B and hip hop music genres. The song is built around a "thumping bass line", and features a "distorted wordless vocal hook" as its instrumentation. Additionally, the song is accentuated by hand claps, while Carey's voice is set with auto-tune. Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle described the song's production as "an auto-tune orgy of come-hither vocals and cutesy Mariah-isms." According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Obsessed" is set in common time with a tempo of 84 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of C minor, the melody spanning from B3 to C5, with Carey's harmonies stretching up to C7. Written and produced by Carey, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, the song's chord progression revolves around alternating A major and C minor chords. Lyrically, the song describes the protagonists dilemma regarding a stalker, and finds her asking him regarding his obsession.
After the song's release, critics heavily compared its lyrics to Eminem, and suggested Carey alluded to him and his 'obsession' with her. "Obsessed" never mentions the rapper's name, although reviewers felt it to be very obvious. The song begins with "I was like, 'Why are you so obsessed with me?'", before the music begins. This line references the 2004 film Mean Girls. As the first verse begins, Carey describes the tracks' subjects constant lies: "All up in the blogs sayin' we met at a bar / When I don't even, know who you are / Sayin' you up in my house sayin' you up in my car / When you in L.A. and I'm at Jermaine's". Additionally, the song suggests the stalker is under the influence of drugs: It must be the weed, it must be the E / 'Cause you be poppin', heard you get it poppin'." During the chorus, Carey confronts her stalker, asking: Why are you so obsessed with me / Boy I wanna know / Lying that your sexing with me / When everybody knows/ It's clear that you're upset with me / Oh, Oh, Oh, finally found a girl that you couldn't impress / last man on the earth still couldn't get this." During the song's second verse, critics complimented Carey's lyrics, highlighting phrases such as: You're a mom & pop, I'm a corporation / I'm the press conference, you're a conversation", "suggesting the rapper isn't a worthy suitor". The super clean version of the song which has the same time length as the album version, have the words "E" and "weed" being omitted. Two individual garble sound effects were used for the removed lyrics.
Critical reception