Before she was the best-selling female artist of all time, Mariah Carey was a young singer in New York just looking for her big break.<\/p>\n
That came when both legendary producer Arthur Baker and record executive Tommy Mottola were both handed her demo tape in 1988 at a Christmas party by singer Brenda K. Starr. Carey was one of her backup singers.<\/p>\n
After that, music history was made, and the world came to know the \u201cElusive Chanteuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mottola and Carey ended up marrying in 1993, but divorced five years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stick the cassette in and the first three songs are all hits and I\u2019m thinking holy s\u2013t it\u2019s Madonna meets Whitney. She writes like Madonna sounds like Whitney. This is it, I\u2019ve discovered gold,\u201d he explained<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, that \u201cpiece of music history\u201d will be available to one lucky bidder as Wax Poetics plans to auction it off calling it the \u201cmost historic archival release to date.\u201d<\/p>\n The demo is \u201ccomprised of songs that would form the nucleus of her self-titled 1990 debut album. An album that went on to produce four #1 singles and announced the arrival of a self-made talent who would come to define the 90s and one of the biggest-selling stars of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n Carey and Starr\u2019s numbers on written on the cassette\u2019s case alongside songwriter and producer, Ben Margulies\u2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Wax Poetics<\/p>\n \u201cThis tape is one of the most sought-after items we have come across. It captures the exact moment an era-defining artist was emerging, before the world knew her name.\u00a0Our mission has always been to preserve and grow music culture with care, context, and respect. This release honors one of the greatest singers and songwriters of our time by preserving a rare piece of her story,\u201d said\u00a0Alex Bruh, co-owner and CEO of Wax Poetics.<\/p>\n The auction will include the tape along with a verified certificate of authenticity, archival notes, and historical context from Baker\u2019s collection and the Wax Poetics archive team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n