Little Hawk, your answer is so condescending...I was/am speaking of culture changing moments. I wasn't speaking of HER ethnicity, that's immaterial. I was speaking of Arsenio Hall's bold step in booking her w/o network approval and what THAT did to change the face of television specifically and culture in the larger sense. He rolled the dice on one career move...they could've canned him the next day as he was, clearly in violation of his contract. Hell, they could've pulled the plug in the middle of her performance, but didn't. That's power. That spoke to urban youth specifically and black culture in general. Run DMC's collaboration w/Aerosmith on 'Walk This Way' was a HUGE moment in cultural change, also as it happened around the same time. Rick Rubin was responsible for that and was responsible for the 1994 solo acoustic release 'Cash' on what had been heretofore considered a Rap label. Whether it comes via, radio, TV, books, etc. doesn't invalidate, trivialize or marginalize the impact. The least you can do is educate yourself by obtaining a copy of Mariah Carey's first release entitled 'Mariah Carey' and a DVD copy of her 'MTV-Unplugged' performance and THEN you'll have some valid perspective. She wrote or co-wrote all the songs on her first release, which at 19 is pretty astonishing. And understand, I'm not a fan, I simply respect her work. Her sexuality and the marketting thereof doesn't negate her talent any more than Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin or Grace Slick's. It's always been thus w/female singers. Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow...etc.

It's meaningful to me more in an observational way than in a direct way. While I've no connection w/'urban youth culture' I respect the fact that it exists and has it's own language and voice.

You don't have to have any interest or connection, either. But, don't the words 'don't criticize what you don't understand' ring a bell?