Carey: It's an insane time in my life. Everything is going on really fast. Everyone, from my manager to everybody that's with me, we're all a bunch of freaks right now because we're trying really hard to make this deadline and get everything together. ... And now, being on this other movie with Mira Sorvino, "Wisegirls," that we're shooting in less than a week. Trying to get this soundtrack, this movie, everything handed in for this movie ... just everything that I'm doing is a crazy bunch of stuff going on. But it's also an amazing time in my life, because it's a fresh, new, happy situation. I ain't gonna say it ain't about the money, too, 'cause I was almost the "Behind the Music" poster child. But that's beside the point. ... The money aspect of it is good, but it's also great to have people who really feel excited about something new.

MTV: When I heard about your deal with Virgin, it took me back to your days of trolling the New York streets with your demo tape hoping that someone would listen to it. Did you think about that when you were signing the contract?

Carey: The difference between when I was first trying to get a record deal as a teenage vagrant wandering the streets of New York and now? Well, I still only eat one bagel a day, but only because I'm too tired to eat. That was a money issue; now the thing is I didn't have to play anybody any music. That was nice. Before I had to try to get people to listen to the music and this time I just said, "Well, you like this." [Laughs] No, I didn't say that. I met with so many different record company people, and I have to say that there are people out there that are complete geniuses that I really revere and hold in the highest regard because they spent their time with me. Then I'd ask a question like, "OK, who's the distributor in Taipei?" Or something abstract like that, and they were like, "What? How do you even know about that?" That's because that's the business side of me that people would never think that I know about. I honestly wouldn't have known about that unless I had to get into it and do it myself.

MTV: After all these years, after all the success that you've had, why are you still so driven to work so hard? Haven't you had enough 18-hour days?

Carey: I'm driven because I don't think that I'm famous. [Laughs] Seriously. ... I don't talk about my past a lot. I guess I'm Cinderella in a weird way, but I saw things before the age of 12 ... that most people may never see in their lives. It was really intense stuff, which is why people can say, "Oh, isn't she trying to be down now with the rappers and the hard- partying rap posse?" But the truth is, I want to relate to people who had a similar life experience. I think one of the reasons I stay grounded and stay hungry is because I didn't get to experience my fame when it first happened, as a young kid starting out.

It was like, "Don't trust the press. Don't talk to this one. Don't be like that." ... I didn't trust enough to be myself, because I was scared. I feel like people played on those fears and insecurities. ... The truth of the matter is, they didn't give me my voice, nor did they write my songs. ... I was shrouded and hidden away ... therefore, I'm just experiencing this mess for the first time. [RealAudio]

MTV: How much of your character in "Glitter" is autobiographical?

Carey: It's really not autobiographical. There are certain elements that are similar. My character's father is white — we don't really know him very well. The mother is black and she's a singer. It's kind of the opposite scenario of what my life is. Also, I'm very close with my mom. ... This character's main arc is about finding out why her mother abandoned her. [She feels] like she's got to find the answer to that through her relationship with the male lead and through her desire for fame. She's motivated by feeling rejected from her mother. That's completely the opposite of me.

MTV: Since movies have longer lead times than records, were you worried about using samples that might get lifted by someone else before the album came out?

Carey: Most of the remakes are party records. The whole thing was a total fest of me saying, "OK, how can this not get ripped off by somebody? Let me come up with a fake title for this song and not put my voice on this." Today, everything gets downloaded in two seconds and then you're foiled. Now that the real music is laid in, the music really enhances the movie and vice versa. A lot of people will say, "Oh, she's playing a singer for the first time," which is another reason why I wanted to do this new movie, "Wisegirls." Because I'm really playing a character. She's not a singer, it's totally out there. As you may have noticed ... there's some part of my personality that needs to express anger. [Laughs]

MTV: Tell me about your first single, "Loverboy," which samples Cameo's "Candy"?

Carey: It was always one of my favorite songs growing up, but I know I say that about every loop that I use. But this seriously was. I had the idea for the chorus and it fit perfectly over the [sample] and I got the guys from Cameo to come in and re-sing their part. Whenever you hear their voices, it's us singing together and DJ Clark Kent looped it ... On the pop version I go into the original "Candy" and I'm singing it with Cameo, which is totally a childhood dream. I felt like such an idiot sitting there telling them, "Can you do this like you sang it on the remix?" They might have done it a little bit differently. I was like, "No, but on the remix, you went 'yes I do.' " I was a fan sitting there obsessing about it.

MTV: How does this song relate to the movie?

Carey: It's prominently featured in the movie. ... My character's name is Billie, and it's Billie's first crossover record. Because it's set in the '80s, it works with the loop. For me as the artist, [I wondered], "How do you take a loop from the '80s, do a new song over it, or do a remake and also have it appeal to the kids today that may or may not know the song?"

MTV: Can you talk about what people can expect from the album? Can they expect this whole album to sound like the '80s, or ...

Carey: There are songs that are definitely going to take people back and make them go, "Oh, man, this song from the '80s — I loved it growing up." Or people who never heard the songs before might be like, "This is cool." When you see the movie, you're gonna see the uptempo songs and the songs that are remakes in there as they would have sounded in the '80s. But the album is the way that I would make the record now, and the ballads can stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album.