"Fantasy" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey. It was released on August 23, 1995, by Columbia Records as the lead single from her fifth album, Daydream (1995). The track was written and produced by Carey and Dave Hall. It samples Tom Tom Club's 1981 song "Genius of Love". The lyrics describe a woman who is in love with a man, and how every time she sees him she starts fantasizing about an impossible relationship with him. The remix for the song features rap verses from Ol' Dirty Bastard, something Carey arranged to assist in her crossover into the hip-hop market.
"Fantasy" received critical acclaim, with reviewers praising its production, lyrics, Carey's vocal performance and musical progression. The song became a global success, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, and reaching the top-ten in twenty countries. In the US, "Fantasy" became the first song by a female artist—and second overall—to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100, topping the chart for eight consecutive weeks. Additionally, it became Carey's ninth number one on the chart.
Carey sang "Fantasy" live on several television and award show appearances around the world. She performed the song at the 23rd American Music Awards, held on January 29, 1996. Additionally, it was performed live on British music chart program Top of the Pops and on French television. "Fantasy" was part of the set-lists on several of Carey's succeeding tours, making its debut during the album's accompanying set of concerts, the Daydream World Tour and is featured on her compilation albums, #1's (1998), Greatest Hits (2001), The Remixes (2003), Playlist: The Very Best of Mariah Carey (2010) and #1 to Infinity (2015).
The cover of the single was shot by top fashion photographer Steven Meisel. Its parent album Daydream uses a cropped version of the single cover. Carey directed the music video for "Fantasy", making it her directorial debut. She created the video's concept and chose the filming location. After being disappointed with the final result in many of her previous videos, Carey decided to single-handedly direct the video. The video features her rollerblading through Playland Amusement Park in Rye, New York, singing and enjoying herself. The video concludes with Carey dancing atop the sunroof of a Hummer, with many others present and enjoying the music and celebration.
Background With Daydream, Carey began incorporating urban R&B and hip hop into her music, something very noticeable in "Fantasy". After Carey began writing songs for her new album Daydream, she decided to include the hook from the Tom Tom Club song "Genius of Love" into an up-tempo song. Afterwards, Carey and Hall began incorporating the sample into the lyrics and melody she had already produced. Carey described how the idea to sample the song became a reality: I was listening to the radio and heard 'Genius of Love', and I hadn't heard it in a long time. It reminded me of growing up and listening to the radio and that feeling the song gave me seemed to go with the melody and basic idea I had for "Fantasy". I initially told Dave about the idea, and we did it. We called up the Tom Tom Club and they were really into it.
Carey recalled how the writers of the song were really intrigued by the idea of Carey sampling the song, and immediately signed over the rights. After Carey presented Hall with the sample, the chorus and beat, he developed a familiar groove that he felt would "highlight Carey's voice." After they completed the song, Carey's husband and Columbia CEO Tommy Mottola listened to "Fantasy" and agreed to include it on the album. The cover of the single was shot by top fashion photographer Steven Meisel. A cropped version of the photograph was used as the album cover as well. Hall described his experience with writing the song with Carey: [It] was a fun song to do. Mariah brought me 'Genius of Love' and I laid some strings on it and put it into a groove I felt really fit and highlighted her voice. And that song didn't take us but a minute to do, because she really busted that out within two days. We did a rough copy and let Tommy Mottola hear it and he loved it, so all we had to do was bring it back in and mix it.
Composition
"Fantasy" is an up-tempo song with contemporary R&B and dance-pop genres within its composition, which blends elements of funk music, hip hop, and bubblegum pop. Stephen Holden from The New York Times described it as a combination of "gospel-flavored pop-soul" and "light hip-hop". "Fantasy" moves at a "moderate dance tempo" of 104 beats per minute. The remix, which features rap verses from O.D.B., also incorporates hip-hop into the bridge. The song uses heavy bass and percussion, as well as a sample from "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club. Carey's vocal range spans three octaves from the low note of E3 to the high note of E6. The song contains choral lyrics written by Carey, who also developed the song's melody and original beat. Instrumentation and production was performed by Dave Hall, while co-arranging and producing the track as well. The members of Tom Tom Club, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, Steven Stanley and Adrian Belew are all credited as writers due to the inclusion of the music sample they wrote.
Critical reception
Upon its release, "Fantasy" garnered acclaim from contemporary music critics, who praised her songwriting and use of sampling. They commended her for exploring genres beyond the pop ballads she had become known for at the time. Bill Lamb from About.com was very positive on the song, calling it "truly inspiring" and a "career high water mark" for Carey. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic also complimented it, saying "Carey continues to perfect her craft and that she has earned her status as an R&B/pop diva." A reviewer from Music & Media stated that "it's got more swing than anything she has done before." Stephen Holden from The New York Times gave the song praise, writing "with 'Fantasy', Ms. Carey glides confidently into the territory where gospel-flavored pop-soul meets light hip-hop and recorded some of the most gorgeously spun choral music to be found on a contemporary album." Additionally, he claimed "Fantasy" held some of the album's best moments, writing "she continues to make pop music as deliciously enticing as the best moments of "Fantasy". Slant Magazine ranked the song at number sixty on their "Best Singles of the '90s" list, writing it is "escapism perfected, [a] summer bubblegum gem with a sweet, flawless vocal line driven by a diva in her prime." Mark Frith from Smash Hits said it "was such a brilliant, original, clever record that many people are going to have high hopes for the LP." Another Smash Hits editor, Mark Sutherland, was negative, giving "Fantasy" two out of five, writing, "Unfortunately, it is also the 43rd Mariah Carey single in history to be Not Very Good At All."
Accolades +Accolades for "Fantasy" Publication Accolade Rank Forbes The 50 Best Songs of the 1990s PureWow The 53 Best ‘90s Songs of All Time Slant Magazine The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s Time Out The 50 Best ’90s Songs
+Accolades for "Fantasy (Bad Boy Remix)" Publication Accolade Rank Esquire The 50 Best Songs of the ’90s Pitchfork The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s
+Accolades for "Fantasy (Def Club Mix)" Publication Accolade Rank Rolling Stone 200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time
Chart performance "Fantasy" was Carey's ninth No. 1 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was also the first single by a female artist to debut atop the chart, and only the second single to do so after "You Are Not Alone" by Michael Jackson. It debuted at No. 1 due to strong airplay, being popular among radio listeners, and initial sales of 229,000 copies—the highest sales of a single, at the time, since Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (1993). "Fantasy" spent eight straight weeks at the top of the American chart, from September 30-November 18, 1995; at the time, the song was Carey's longest stay at the top, after her earlier single "Dreamlover" (1993). The single replaced "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio, but was replaced by Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", which also debuted atop the Hot 100. "Fantasy" spent 25 weeks within the top 40, and was equally as successful on other Billboard formats, including the R&B and dance charts. The song debuted at No. 11 on Billboard Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart, setting a record at the time for the chart's highest debut, which would eventually be surpassed by Drake's "Nice for What" (2018). Strong sales led to "Fantasy" being certified sextuple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Carey's first single to do so. "Fantasy" was the second best-selling single of 1995 in the US, with sales of 1,500,000. It was ranked No. 7 on the Hot 100 year-end charts for 1995, and No. 49 on the 1996 year-end charts. "Fantasy" ranked at No. 15 on the Hot 100's decade-end chart for the 1990s.
In Australia, the song topped the mainstream chart, and was certified triple-platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The song also topped the charts in New Zealand, where it was certified 3× platinum by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ). In Canada, the song debuted on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks at No. 95 on the RPM issue dated October 2, 1995, and reached the top of the chart on November 20, 1995. It was present on the chart for a total of 20 weeks, and No. 18 on the RPM Year-end chart for 1995. "Fantasy" also reached the Top 10 in most of the countries of its release, including across Europe, and the Top 20 on the Oricon chart in Japan. It peaked within the Top 5 of Belgium (Wallonia), Finland, France and the UK, and in the Top 10 in Belgium (Flanders), the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. "Fantasy" was certified silver in France and 2× platinum in the UK, by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively; per the Official Charts Company, the single has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK.
Remixes Carey worked with producer Sean Combs (better known as Diddy, Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, etc.), through his label Bad Boy Records, on an official "Bad Boy Remix" for "Fantasy". While Columbia Records had been allowing Carey more leniency with the musicians and producers she was working with, they became hesitant when she featured O.D.B. in the remix for "Fantasy". They feared the sudden change was completely left field for her music, and worried it would jeopardize the album's success. Finally, the Bad Boy remix used guest raps from O.D.B. and background vocals by Puff Daddy. Some of the song's R&B elements were removed for the remix, while the bassline and "Genius of Love" sample were emphasized and the bridge from the original version was used as the chorus. There is a version omitting Ol' Dirty Bastard's verses. The "Bad Boy Fantasy Remix", combines the chorus from the original version and the chorus of the Bad Boy Remix together, removing Ol' Dirty Bastard's vocals from his 2nd verse.
Carey re-recorded vocals for club remixes of the song by David Morales, titled "Daydream Interlude (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix)." The Bad Boy remix garnered positive reviews from music critics. Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly praised the song, claiming its one of the few tracks where Carey "defines herself." Additionally, he complimented the song, writing "At her best, as she is on this clipped, spunky track, Carey is a disco diva for the '90s, a worthy successor to trailblazing women like Donna Summer and Vicki Sue Robinson, R&B singers with an affinity for the endless groove. Disco? No wonder most rock critics can't get behind her. Party on, Mariah." Carey has stated that the Bad Boy remix contributed to over half of the sales of "Fantasy".