HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 17: TeenNick Chairman and HALO Awards host Nick Cannon and singer Mariah Carey attend Nickelodeon's 2012 TeenNick HALO Awards at Hollywood Palladium on November 17, 2012 in Hollywood, California. The show premieres on Monday, November 19th, 8:00p.m. (ET) on Nick at Nite. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images For Nickelodeon)
Nick Cannon just spilled the beans on his uber-successful secret collaboration with ex-wife, Mariah Carey.
On the latest episode of Stepping Into The Shade Room, Cannon revealed that he co-wrote Carey’s viral TikTok hit, “It’s a Wrap,” under his producer alias. And that’s not all – he also called Carey his greatest love and a gift from God.
Around the 8:28 mark, Mariah’s ex-husband tells host Thembi that he didn’t want his contributions to Mariah’s music to be a topic of discussion since they were creating music out of their shared “love and passion” for songwriting and producing. This is why he’s credited as a co-producer under his alias, “Heatmyzer.”
“First of all I never want to take credit away from Mariah right that’s why actually I shouldn’t even say I co-wrote I was just … but interestingly enough during that time when we when we were married um I would do a lot of work music stuff but I never wanted people to to know. Just because it wasn’t about that. We would just do stuff and make music … because of the love and the passion— so I didn’t want people to think like ‘oh he’s he’s producing her records.'”
Mariah Carey’s 2009 track “It’s a Wrap” recently made its debut at No. 24 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart after becoming a viral hit on TikTok. The song was originally featured on Carey’s album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and was also included in a remix form with Mary J. Blige on the deluxe edition of Carey’s 2014 set Me…I Am Mariah: The Elusive Chanteuse.
Despite never being released as a single, a sped-up version of the song gained popularity on TikTok earlier this year, leading to increased streams and sales. Carey, herself even got in on the trend, posting a clip of herself and Kim Kardashian lip-syncing to the track with their daughters.
Cannon added that he created an alias called the Heatmyzer under which he produced “It’s a Wrap” and other song. He says the decision was inspired by Jay-Z.
“I’ll tell you even how the Alias came about because Jay-Z was actually the person who inspired me to not be Nick Cannon the producer because again all I ever wanted to do was make music and be a producer but I’ll tell you that story later.”
In the interview, Cannon also opened up about his feelings for Carey, whom he called his greatest love. He said that he had pictures of Carey on his wall since he was 12 years old and that marrying her was a dream come true. Cannon spoke about how remarkable Carey was, saying that she had a delightful disposition, calling her a “gift from God.”
“I mean, I always talk about that, and then it goes viral, and all her fans get mad at me,” Cannon said as interviewer Thembi name-dropped Mariah. “I was 12 years old with Mariah Carey pictures on my wall, and that becomes my wife. And the fact that she’s the coolest person I’ve ever met. I get a lot of this delightful disposition from her, like she’s just always happy, always doing for others no matter what’s happening in life.”
Cannon and Carey’s relationship has been the subject of much speculation over the years. The couple got married in 2008 and welcomed their twins, Monroe and Moroccan, in 2011.
However, by 2014, the pair called it quits and reportedly finalized their divorce in 2016. Despite their separation, Cannon has maintained that Carey was the love of his life.
