10 Things We Learned From Mariah Carey & SZA’s ‘Flowers’ Conversation

Less than a minute into their conversation, SZA dropped a bomb: she and Mariah had spent the previous night in the studio together writing and playing each other music. While they kept mum on the details, the surprise news now has every Lamb’s eyes peeled for a Here for It All deluxe announcement.

While recording 1995’s blockbuster Daydream, which houses the Hot 100 No. 1s “Fantasy,” “One Sweet Day” (with Boyz II Men) and “Always Be My Baby,” Carey had her attention split. As she described to SZA, she would be cutting Daydream songs and writing songs for a second album — a grunge record, to be exact. Titled Someone’s Ugly Daughter and recorded under the name Chick, the album “allowed me to feel free when I wasn’t free yet in my life,” Carey reflected. Notably, Daydream was Carey’s last studio album before separating from then-husband Tommy Mottola in 1996.

Carey first revealed the existence of Someone’s Ugly Daughter in her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Her friend Clarissa Dane, who co-produced the album, is the lead vocalist on the official release, while Carey is on background vocals. As she tells it, Carey recruited Dane as a compromise with her record label after executives told her that an album of that style could significantly damage her image and career.

After revealing they spent the previous night in the studio together, Mariah noted that she envisioned her and SZA’s collaboration sounding something like “Underneath the Stars,” a fan-favorite deep cut from Daydream that gives her “the same feeling as [SZA’s] ‘Snooze.’”

There are several stellar featured artists on Here for It All, Anderson .Paak, Kehlani, Shenseea, to name a few — but The Clark Sisters were the act Mariah was most excited to finally get in the studio with.

Pioneers of contemporary gospel and one of the most influential vocal groups of all time, The Clark Sisters boast a Grammy lifetime achievement award and a spot in the 2026 Hollywood Walk of Fame class. The group joins Carey on “Jesus I Do,” the penultimate track on Here for It All. From “Fly Like a Bird” to “Heavenly,” Carey has incorporated gospel vocal stylings and faith-based lyricism throughout her career. “Jesus I Do” marks The Clark Sisters’ first collaboration with a secular artist since their 2020 Snoop Dogg link-up, “His Love,” which topped Gospel Airplay.

When SZA inquired which album makes Carey feel most like herself, the Elusive Chanteuse nearly immediately replied, “Butterfly.”

Butterfly was Carey’s first album after separating from her first husband, Tommy Mottola, and she considers it her magnum opus. Housing two Hot 100 No. 1s in “Honey” and “My All,” Butterfly was Carey’s fourth album to top the Billboard 200, and introduced her now-signature butterfly imagery.

One of our last true divas, few are better qualified to define the term than Mariah Carey. According to her late opera singer mother, Patricia Carey, a diva is “a singing woman, typically a soprano.” Though sometimes called “difficult,” Mariah said that she rejects that notion.

With five Grammys, a history-making stadium world tour, three Hot 100 No. 1 hits, a hit movie, and the album by a Black artist with the most weeks in the top 10 in Billboard 200 history to her name, SZA has done it all. And she accomplished a significant chunk of that this year! So, what’s next on her docket? Kids: “I really want to have children,” she told Carey as they discussed the icon’s 14-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe.

According to SZA, Mariah can hang! The “Kill Bill” singer revealed that Carey was the one to get the ball rolling on a writing session during their after-hours studio link-up. “I’m a late-night writer,” Carey concurred.

Near the top of the conversation, Carey revealed that her mother had made her singing debut at Lincoln Center. She was likely referring to the Metropolitan Opera House on the main campus of Lincoln Center; Wednesday evening’s event took place a few blocks away at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Though Carey had a tumultuous relationship with her mother, she fondly reflected on this special piece of advice from her: “Don’t say, ‘If I make it’ — say, ‘When I make it.” At the end of that phrase, Mariah began to tear up, and SZA quickly embraced her, making for the night’s emotional apex.