Aiming at another comeback, Pop/R&B icon Mariah Carey assimilates to modern times on single “GTFO” with pleasant, though not groundbreaking results.

“How ‘bout you get the f**k out?” Wow, Mariah Carey returns aggressively on “GTFO,” her first new single of 2018. She’s clearly a woman scorned throughout the course of “GTFO.”  On the first verse, she asserts, “You took my love for granted / You left me lost and disenchanted / Bulldozed my heart as if you planned it.”  On the second verse, she basically states she should’ve listened to her friends who warned her that her man was no good. “My friends all saw it in your eyes / They told me once, they told me twice / I looked beyond all the signs.”  Ultimately, all the anger leads the explicit chorus, excerpted at the very beginning of this review.  She continues beyond the colorful f-bomb singing, “(How ‘bout you) take your tings and be on your merry way.”

Vocally, Mariah Carey sounds smooth, singing in a cool, calm, and collected fashion as opposed to belting or singing lots of high notes.  One can have a debate about how much range she still has, if she can still drop those whistle tones and such. Listening to “GTFO,” you obviously can’t tell because it lacks range and much flashiness in general. It all works, even if “GTFO” doesn’t reach the high-flying status of her biggest hits back when Carey was in her 20s as opposed to being 48.  Along with a relatively conservative vocal performance, the production keeps things on the conservative side as well.  It’s effective, but not particularly flashy or ear-catching.

Final Thoughts 

So, how does “GTFO” stack up for Mariah Carey? It’s enjoyable, and certainly pleasant, but not game changing.  That said, do we expect Carey to be game changing at this point in her career? No. One could argue that it’s sad that Carey had to resort to dropping the f-bomb to feel relevant in today’s super-explicit music age, but there are very few artists who aren’t assimilating, so…

Mariah Carey • GTFO – Single • Epic • Release: 9.13.18

Photo Credit: Epic