You’d think Mariah Carey would be so mad at ex fiancee James Packer she’d write her own song about their break up.
But it turns out her new non-hit “I Don’t” is just mostly sampled from a 2000 hit by Donell Jones called “Where You Wanna Be.” The main melody of the hook sung by Mariah in the song — the “but when you love someone” refrain– is Jones’s song. This is called Karoake in most bars.
Mariah, who has been involved in more copyright complaints than most pop artists, was caught lip synching on New Year’s Eve. Now she’s doing lip service. “I Don’t” has lyrics that are very similar to “Where You Wanna Be” and the original song’s melody. What Mariah and her cowriters added was a new rap and a few changes. They credit Jones, but it’s basically his song.
Doesn’t Mariah have original thoughts about Packer? This would be as if Taylor Swift used old Joni Mitchell songs to break up with her boyfriends.
Meanwhile, “I Don’t” is a bust. It’s not being played on Spotify, and it’s fallen out of the top 30 on iTunes. What was this all about anyway?
This is not new. Mariah lifted all of the song “Best of My Love” by the Emotion for her song “Emotions.” She took all of “Genius of Love” by the Tom Tom Club for “Fantasy.” And those are just two examples.
Where I Wanna Be, Donell Jones:
I Don’t, Mariah Carey:
