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"My All"
#1 weeks: 1
weeks: 1998-05-23
genre: pop, r&b, latin
artist: Mariah Carey
album: Butterfly
writers: Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
producers: Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
label:
formats: CD single, cassette single, 7" single, 12" single, VHS
lengths: 3:50

"My All" is a song written by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff for Carey's seventh album, Butterfly(1997). It is built around a Latin guitar, Latin chord, and also makes subtle use of Latin percussion in the first chorus, before taking on a more conventional contemporary R&B-style beat. Its protagonist declares she would give "her all" to have just one more night with her estranged lover. It was released as the album's fifth and final single in 1998. It was produced by Carey and Afanasieff with keyboards by Afanasieff and producer Dan Shea. "My All" was mixed by Mick Guzauski. "My All" at the time set a record, giving Carey her thirteenth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the most by any female recording artist.

Although "My All" was the fifth single released from Butterfly, it was only the second commercial release in the U.S. It was released worldwide beginning in April 1998. In the U.S., it was commercially released as a double A-side with "Breakdown" (the album's third, radio-only U.S. single). In June 1998, a remix maxi-single entitled "My All/Stay Awhile" was released. "My All" became Carey's thirteenth number 1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the female artist with the most U.S. number 1 hits (she had previously shared this record with Diana Ross & the Supremes). It debuted at number 2 (her second to do so following "Always Be My Baby" in 1996), and two weeks later it ascended to number 1. It spent one week at the top of the chart, from May 17 to May 23, 1998, Carey's only one-week stay at number 1 at the time.

"My All" continued the trend in Carey's singles begun with "Honey" (1997) of strong sales but moderate radio airplay, which worked against its chart performance because the formulations made by Billboardmagazine during this period were becoming much more focused on radio airplay than sales. It spent twelve weeks in the top ten and a total of twenty weeks on the chart, was certified platinum by the RIAA and was ranked 16 on the Hot 100 1998 year-end chart. The single was only a moderate success outside the U.S., achieving top ten peaks in the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland, and reaching the top twenty in many other countries.

"My All" ranks among one of Carey's most remixed tracks, and two maxi-singles were released in the U.S. The main R&B remix of this single is the So So Def remix, which features re-recorded vocals by Carey. It is built around a sample of the Loose Ends song "Stay a Little While". Carey's vocal interpolation blends the first verse and chorus of "My All" with the verse and chorus of "Stay a Little While". It was produced by Jermaine Dupri and features raps from Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz. The single also features a version without JD or Tariq and P. Gunz rap.

The song's main dance remix is by David Morales. Known as the Classic Club mix, it is Carey's first collaboration with Morales for which she did not record entirely new vocals. Consequently, the song is fairly close to the original chord progressions of the album version, though some new vocals were added. The remix was a major U.S. dance hit, consolidating Morales and Carey's positions as club hitmakers. This remix was used as a dance break on Carey's Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey (2003) and The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006).

Carey recorded a Spanish version of "My All", "Mi Todo" (translated by Manny Benito), and it was released outside the U.S. on the "My All" single and the Latin American versions of Butterfly. Unlike "Hero" (1993) and "Open Arms" (1996), Carey recorded the Spanish version of the song in a different key from the original English version. The first line of the song had been mistranslated and was grammatically incorrect, and Carey later mentioned on her website that she would no longer record Spanish versions of her songs until she could verify the correct lyrics and pronunciation ("My All" remains her last song to be recorded in Spanish as well as English). Columbia Records commissioned Ippocratis "Grego" Bournellis (a.k.a. DJ Grego) to remix "Mi Todo", but these four mixes were only released promotionally in Mexico.

The song has also been released and resung in 2005 as a Bachata version in both English and Spanish lyrics by the group Dominicanado.

The single's video, shot entirely in black and white and on location in Puerto Rico, was directed by fashion photographer Herb Ritts. The video (released in March 1998) starts with Carey lying on an overturned rowboat in the ocean and progresses to her exploring the beach past flowers and a beam from the beach's lighthouse. The images of Carey lying in the shell and in front of the flowers were inspired by Sandro Botticelli's painting The Birth of Venus. The video climaxes to a scene where Carey and her lover make love, but then ends with Carey alone. The video was later re-edited to portray intimate kissing and caressing before its release as the official video for the Classic Club Radio Mix.

A music video was filmed for the So So Def remix. Directed by Diane Martel, it features Carey, Dupri, Lord Tariq, and Peter Guns partying at a friend's house. The video was shot in a grainy fashion to simulate a home video.

European CD single

Japanese/U.S. CD single

Australian CD maxi-single

Mexican CD maxi-single

U.S. CD maxi-single #1

U.S. CD maxi-single #2

European CD maxi-single #1

European CD maxi-single #2

European CD maxi-single #3

European CD maxi-single #4

European CD maxi-single #5

"My All"/"Breakdown"