Songfacts®:

• In Eminem's single "Superman" he disses Mariah after they broke up (though she denies they were ever together). He also threatened to use a "mushy" voicemail she left on his cell phone. Following these events, Mariah felt it was only fair that she should get her chance to reply, and did so on this track, where Mariah blasts Eminem for being "A puppet show" who "Often sits at home alone and cries, cries, cries, cries." >>>

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• Carey initially reached out to the rapper to appear on her Charmbracelet album, which is when their alleged fling began. After he made negative comments about their relationship in a Rolling Stone interview, saying he didn't really like her as a person, the incensed singer responded with "Clown."
• Charmbracelet, which doesn't feature any actual contributions from Eminem, is Carey's ninth studio album and her first release through Island Records. The singer had left Sony Music for a lucrative deal with Virgin Records, which fell through after her Glitter project bombed. Debuting at #3 in the US, Charmbracelet was a modest hit that helped her regain her footing, but she truly came back with her next album, the multi-million-seller, The Emancipation Of Mimi.
• Speaking in a 2024 Buzzfeed interview, Carey said she thinks "Clown" is the most underrated of all the songs she's recorded. "Just because, not everybody knows it, and I like that song," she explained. "I think it's clever and pretty."