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We all know what pop diva Mariah Carey's first power is: her five-octave vocal range that could raise the ceiling.
But, what about her second power?
The vocal powerhouse's eleventh and latest studio album 'E=MC2', was titled with a play on Einstein's famous mass-energy equivalence formula. The full title of the album expands to 'Emancipation equals Mariah Carey to the second power'.
And we're making a not-so-wild guess here, but her second 'power' could just refer to her songwriting.
Not unlike previous albums, the 38-year-old songstress has written or co-written all the songs on her album, and the lyrics might just be powerful and heartfelt enough to trigger tears.
"The album has a lot of ballads and a lot of very personal songs," Mariah told Channel NewsAsia when she was in Japan recently for the MTV Video Music Awards.
Perhaps the most personal song would be her second single 'Bye Bye', which she wrote after her father passed away from cancer. But the singer also said that the song is universal and is extended to anyone who has lost a loved one.
"A lot of lines in that song are completely personal in terms of my father... I lost my father to cancer" she said.
"A lot of my friends have lost people who were very close to them in their lives and they have been with me so in a way I also wrote it for my friends, I wrote it for myself, and I wrote it for whoever who gets the album, listens to the song, gets the message, and needs it.
"The lyrics go 'Everyday life goes on, I wish I could talk to you for a while, I wish I could try to find a way not to cry...' So it's like my regular life is still going on and that's where we keep our act together and make it okay.
"There are still happy times but there are moments when you reflect on losing people or people you miss and you have to deal with that."
Apart from lost love, Mariah also wrote about new found love. The songbird and her actor beau Nick Cannon were recently married in the Bahamas, and she said tracks on the album reflect their love although they were written before the couple got together.
"I didn't write this album when we were together but it seems like that now so I feel like everything falls into place for a reason," Mariah explained.
"There are just some things that are meant to be and I believe in that. I think people have always felt that it's an unrealistic goal to meet someone and really have a true connection with him, but its not. Anything is possible if you believe in it and you really, really have faith.
"This is how my life has always been, whether it's good times or bad times, things happen for a reason and you get through them in order to get to better places. And that's my philosophy about life."
And the diva is back at the top of the charts, where she belongs. 'E=MC2' debuted at first place on the Billboard 200, with more than 463, 000 copies sold and making it the biggest opening week sales in her career.
The album stayed at at the top spot for two consecutive weeks and first single 'Touch My Body' reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
"The album is very personal... so to incorporate my name into the title in that way was kind of a wink and a smile," said the singer. "This album is a lot of fun... MC is my nickname so it's kind of like Mariah Carey to the second power. Just jokes, but we might as well have a good time with (the album)."
- CNA/yb
View our video interview for more on Mariah’s love life, voice and travel plans.
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