Watch: Jermaine Dupri defends Mariah Carey's poor album sales...

During a visit to The Breakfast Club yesterday, Jermaine Dupri was asked about the lackluster sales of Mariah Carey's latest album ‘Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse.’ He says she didn’t want people to hear the music ahead of it's time, which is why she didn't perform much this era.

She wanted to talk about the record instead, but some people don’t want to listen to talking, he adds. He admits that she wanted people to hear the music as a body of work, and as her manager it's his job to respect the way his client puts out their music. He also stresses that it's not always about first week sales. An example he uses is one where an album can sell 15,000 records the first week and eventually go on to sell ten million, although I have NEVER seen this happen. Platinum or double platinum is more realistic as I have seen this occur with Bruno Mars and Robin Thicke. 

At the time they were newcomers, and were gradually building an audience. This is not the same scenario with Mariah. She is a veteran who has been in the game for 25 years, and has seemingly lost her selling power during the last few years (so-so performance of previous albums is proof of this), so it seems very unlikely that THIS slow-selling album will receive a miraculous surge in sales. Personally, I think it's over but JD is not being paid to say it how it is. No matter how lovely he wraps up the mess in interviews, it is still what it is sadly. However, this album having potential to sell ten million records, that in deed is a very nice thought. 

His comments start at around the 36:15 mark.

Thoughts?