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Mariah Carey lived up to “elusive” part of the title of her latest album Monday in New York City, when she showed up hours late to a press conference launching her new flavored beverage, whose packaging will provide fans with access to exclusive content from the singer.
Reporters were told to be at the press conference at a swanky hotel off Fifth Avenue at 12:30 p.m., but Mariah herself, clad in black top and black-and-white skirt, didn’t appear ’til nearly 3pm. Once there, however, she charmed photographers as she introduced the new beverage, called Butterfly.
“I have always wanted to do something with a beverage because I’m always singing — it’s either gonna be water or it’s gonna be tea… sometimes a splash of Champagne,” joked Mariah. “This drink is really something that I actually like. The truth of the matter is, it’s good. I’m not lying!”
It’s a joint venture between Mariah and former record label head Kevin Liles and his Go N’Syde brand of beverages. Here’s how it works: you download the Go N’Syde app, use your phone to scan the bottle, and it launches what Liles described as an augmented-reality “network” of content, which will be completely curated by Mariah. “I told Mariah, ‘Are you ready to be the CEO of your own network?'” Liles said at the press conference, which prompted Mariah interrupt and exclaim, “My album was going to be called M.C.E.O., but I just went with the Chanteuse thing, ‘cuz it was good.”
As for what kind of content we can expect from Mariah’s “network,” she told reporters, “What I love about this is it’s my own forum to showcase anything that I feel like showing that day. Just like everybody’s, y’know, Instagramming their breakfast, whatever they’re doing that morning, this is a whole ‘nother thing!”
“I will almost be in the room with you!” she continued, adding in typical Mariah fashion. “Like, I don’t wanna give away our secrets, daaahhling, but everybody else is gonna be mad that they didn’t do it first! That’s all I can say…please don’t be jealous!”
Overall, though, Mariah says the beverage, and its content, is all part of providing her fans with something special, much like the fun photos she’s been posting to Instagram and Twitter lately.
“You’re giving something back, and you’re giving something to your fans who would never have had this much closeness,” she told reporters. “Even with the Vines that we do, even with riding the subway in the middle of the night for no reason in a gown, Why not? It’s just for laughs. But for me, this is more than that.”
Mariah’s new album Me. I Am Mariah. The Elusive Chanteuse became the 17th top 10 album of her career last week.
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