Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue) by Mariah Carey

Album: Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel (2009)

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Songfacts®:

This is the opening track from American R&B and recording artist Mariah Carey's twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.
On this song Carey threatens to out a cheating lover on national television. The song's subject matter of revenge is a topic Carey has rarely tackled before.
Carey wrote and produced the entire album in collaboration with The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, the hitmaking duo behind Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyoncé's "Single Ladies." Carey said in publicity materials: "My main goal was to work with people I could collaborate with without it seeming redundant or stale. In my opinion Tricky is one of the most underrated major producers out there right now. I really enjoyed collaborating with him. And I especially liked writing with The-Dream, basically because we both love having fun with lyrics and melodies, and we're also capable of getting more serious on deeper songs. There is a particular sense of freedom I feel when we write together -- even though I make him stay in the studio all night until he is ready to kill me! LOL!"
A remix version with R. Kelly was included on Carey's 2014 album, Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse, as a deluxe edition bonus track. It was originally earmarked for an remix version of Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel entitled Angels Advocate but the project was canceled.
For the first time, Carey also worked with renowned hip-hop/R&B producer Timbaland, as well as her longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, on a number of tracks for the album, but none of them made the cut.
Mariah told The B. Scott Show this was based on a semi-true story but she was also inspired by her friends that "have inner anger."
In the second verse, Mariah returns to the scene of the affair and tries to pretend nothing is wrong, telling her cheating lover she fell asleep on Jasmine's sofa and thought Rae Rae would let him know. Jasmine is Jasmine Dotiwala, a British broadcaster who befriended the singer after she interviewed her for MTV. Rae Rae is Mariah's former back-up dancer and friend Rachel McIntosh, whom she also calls on speed-dial on the E=MC2 track "Migrate."

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