Mariah After Midnight

But Mimi incorporates Mariah's cherished hip-hop influences in greater proportion than ever. She brought the Neptunes and her old friend Snoop Dogg in for "Say Somethin'," traded verses with Twista on "So Lonely," duetted with longtime producer Jermaine Dupri on "Get Your Number" and teamed with Nelly on "To the Floor." Though there are still the belt-it-out ballads, they're R&B slow jams with a bangin' bottom end that often rivals Mariah's own bangin' bottom end. "The funny thing is, I've always known that what I really loved would be commercially successful," she says. Her instincts proved correct: The record has already spawned three hits -- "Don't Forget About Us," "Shake It Off" and "We Belong Together" -- and has earned her eight Grammy nominations, including for Album of the Year. When we met just a few weeks before the awards, it was clear that -- no matter how many Grammys she would or would not collect -- Mariah had safely reassumed her pop-diva throne.

"People ask me, 'Isn't this really the vindication of Mariah Carey?'" she says. "Not really, because my whole life has been a series of overcoming obstacles. Since I've always had to struggle, I've always expected that I will have to struggle."

"She's on the third chapter of her career," says Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "LA" Reid. "The first chapter had major successes. The second chapter had some major disappointments. Now, she's at the point where she has the wherewithal to stay in the game for as long as it takes, to withstand the ups and downs. It's like Muhammad Ali or Frank Sinatra. And I think her fans have a real love for her because she has had those ups and downs and she's still here."

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Mariah arrives characteristically late for dinner at a Brazilian restaurant around the corner from her apartment, but she is also characteristically apologetic about it. Affecting exaggerated fabulosity, she purrs, "Sorry, darling. The pedicurist fell on her orange stick. Stitches were required." And then, without missing a beat: "What are we drinking? Wine? Vodka has fewer calories. All right, you twisted my arm. I'll have a glass of wine."