In a recent interview with Billboard Biz, he says: "Listen, sometimes an artist — and in the case of Mariah, an artist I’ve worked with for 10 years — makes an amazing album that just doesn’t connect with the audience."
He adds: "Of course that is very disappointing, but it would be impossible to pinpoint that down to just one thing. I’ve enjoyed incredible success with Mariah and many of those hit songs and albums have made Billboard history. But this latest effort just didn’t go all the way."
Quality certainly wasn't the issue here, as this album was her strongest body of work in years. Horrible mishandling of the project, multiple pushbacks, wrong single choices and little promotion all played a part. I also think it was a big mistake that they did not release the album at the back of American Idol or behind her moderate hit '#Beautiful.' Wasted opportunities. Enough of the excuses already. Artists flop, and legends like MC are not exempt. With age, it happens to the best of them.