Ms. Mariah started off the interview with a response to those who assert that her newest single (Rainbow) sounds a little too, well, "familiar."

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Mariah Carey: When I got flack for the pop version [of "Heartbreaker"] being similar [to] "Fantasy," or this, that, the other thing, I was like, "Oh well, whatever." Obviously my fans care. But yeah, it's similar, 'cause I wrote the melody and the lyrics, but what are you gonna do? Sorry, I have a style. [Sarcastically] Oh, forgive me!

But Mariah's not making any serious apologies. In fact, Mariah's emerging with a newfound confidence in herself and on the collective group of songs which comprise "Rainbow."

Mariah: This album has a lot of different collabo's. It has a lot of different colors and textures. I have to be able to have fun to do, like, a lot of different styles within one album. Otherwise, it's boring.

Right now, pop is the biggest thing. It could have been, like, "Let's do an entire really-pop album," you know, because that'll be the really big-selling thing. But that's not my bag.

This album was all about sequencing, and I did it quicker than any album I've ever done. I did it in, like, literally three months, and [I] locked myself in a studio for the most part. And slept there too.

There's not many albums that go from a loop of [Snoop Dogg's] "Ain't No Fun" with Missy [Elliott] and [Da] Brat and me [on "Heartbreaker (Remix)"] to [a cover of Phil Collins'] "Against All Odds." But it worked.

John Norris: People are gonna first, of course, think you're talking about the marriage [to Tommy Mottola] and what happened [after the divorce].

Mariah: They may think that. I don't know that that's where I was coming from with that.