It’s 2020, and the world has been gifted a song that features both Mariah Carey and Lauryn Hill, so there’s an argument to be made about how the year hasn’t been all bad. Mariah, 50, released the newly-recording track on Aug. 21, days after she announced The Rarities, a collection of unreleased tracks, B-Sides, and other rare finds. Unfortunately, “Save The Day” isn’t a pure collaboration between Mimi and Ms. Hill, 45. It’s more of an extended cameo, since the track features Lauryn’s vocals from the Fugees’ now-iconic cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.” That doesn’t mean that this song is any less incredible.
The song perfectly reflected on “the world we live in” (MC’s exact words a minute in), particularly the political climate and the global COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re all in this together/You’re my only hope/And it’s too divided…what if we don’t do it, tell me who will?” She went on, “I wonder, where is the love? That fear still holding us back, one day we will look on,” before Lauryn’s incredible vocals harmonized with Mariah’s on the chorus. It’s unclear when the song was recorded, but the message of the tune couldn’t have been more appropriate. Mariah’s close friend and frequent collaborator Jermaine Dupri, 47, is credited as a writer on the track, making a quick cameo on the tune with his signature tag, “ya’ll know what this is.”
The Rarities arrives on Oct. 2. It will be a 2-disc set featuring recordings from her three-decade career, per Rolling Stone. The second disc will feature a never-before-released, full-length recording from Live At The Tokyo Dome, Mariah’s first live performance in Japan during her 1996 Daydream World Tour. The Rarities is also part of Mariah’s #MC30 campaign, one that celebrates the 30th anniversary of her debut album. She kicked off the campaign with the release of The Live Debut – 1990 in July and has shared video footage, personal notes, and unseen photos to her social media page.
“I found stuff in my vault that I had either started to work on a long time ago and never released or that I wanted to kind of finish mixing, or do whatever.” Mariah said during an Aug. 19 interview with Good Morning America. “There are songs that have previously not been released, so it’s exciting. It’s a monumental occasion for my career.”
Mariah throwing open the doors to her vault comes days after a cute moment when she wasn’t so ready to be in the spotlight. Her nine-year-old son Moroccan was on TikTok when he tried to get Mariah to ‘say Hi.’ Without shoving the camera in her face, Rocky continued to ask Mariah for a quick cameo. Unfortunately, she was “not ready to look” and she was busy with a business call. So, Mariah is fine with giving fans an intimate look at her life – but, only when she’s good and ready.