[3] In composing the album, Carey collaborated with many songwriters and producers throughout 2004, including Jermaine Dupri, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Twista, Nelly, Pharrell Williams, and James "Big Jim" Wright, many of whom appeared as featured guests on select tracks.

Although it has similar vocal production to her previous works and an inclination towards her signature ballads, the album encompasses dance-oriented and uptempo styles in keeping with its celebratory motif.

Internationally, it topped the charts in Greece, and reached the top-five in Canada, Denmark, France, and Japan, and was the world's second best-selling album of the year.

To promote the album, Carey embarked on her sixth concert tour, entitled The Adventures of Mimi, starting on July 22, 2006, and ending on October 28, 2006.

[8][9] After posting a personally expressive letter on her official site, Carey checked into a hospital in Connecticut because of an "emotional and physical breakdown".

[13] In the following months, Carey wrote and co-produced several songs including "Say Somethin' (with Snoop Dogg and The Neptunes), "To the Floor" (with Nelly), and "Fly Like a Bird" with James "Big Jim" Wright.

What I tried to do was keep the sessions very sparse, underproduced, like in '70s soul music ... "[18] According to Reid, Carey intended for the album to feature a more unpolished sound than her previous releases.

[14] The Emancipation of Mimi was Carey's most expressive album to that point according to Fox News; it signified her creative freedom, as she had been oppressed by the expectations of record executives in the past.

[20] The latter album harbored on reviving Carey's popularity among the adult contemporary radio audience, following her decline with Glitter, which found the singer sampling 1980s melodies.

[21][22] While featuring ballads similar to those on Charmbracelet, the songs on The Emancipation of Mimi drew influence from R&B and hip hop, and were composed at an elevated tempo.

[23] The Emancipation of Mimi explores various genres; Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune felt that the album effectively combines "elements of hip-hop and rhythm and blues into pop songs that appeal to a broad cross-section of listeners.

"[31] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine praised its lyrics and beat, and felt the song prepares listeners for the album's "party theme".

Vibe writer Dimitri Ehrlich described it as "a musical oddity", and characterized the production as "strange instrumentation, weird melodic shifts, hectic drum patterns and a bed of synths.

[23] "Stay the Night" was produced by Carey and Kanye West, and samples a piano loop from Ramsey Lewis's 1971 cover version of "Betcha by Golly, Wow".

[31] "Get Your Number" samples the hook from British band Imagination's 1982 single "Just an Illusion",[34] and derives its production from "'80s-esque synthesizers" and computerized musical instruments.

[52] Taking place in Times Square and attracting the largest crowd to the plaza since the 2004 New Year's Eve celebration, the concert featured the first three singles from the album in addition to "Fly Like a Bird" and "Make It Happen" (1991).

[58][59] On November 15, 2005, Carey performed "Shake It Off" and her newly released single from the album's re-release, "Don't Forget About Us", during half-time of the Thanksgiving game between the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons.

[80] The song became Carey's seventeenth chart topper in the US, tying her with Elvis Presley for the most number-one singles by a solo artist (a record she surpassed in 2008 with "Touch My Body").

[93] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album a "highly crafted piece of dance-pop" and "relative comeback" for Carey[27] Michael Paoletta from Billboard was less critical of her vocals, writing that "while her voice has lost some of the power through the years, Mimi deftly showcases her still-considerable pipes with strong lyrics and slick production."

Reviewing "Fly Like a Bird", Sinclair concluded, "It's so moving that we'll resist the temptation to be crass and interpret the song as a plea for heightened record sales.

"[33] Jennifer Vineyard of MTV News considered the album's title to be influenced by Janet Jackson's Damita Jo, which was also based on an alternate persona.

[12] According to Jenson Macey from BBC News, The Emancipation of Mimi was Carey's strongest effort from the 2000s; he said that the album "took her straight back to the top of the A-List.

[4] Critic Andre Meyer of CBS News thought the material on the album was "stronger" than on Charmbracelet, and described it as a move in Carey's long-term plan for pop domination, while giving off the "jittery R&B vibe that made Destiny's Child so potent."

[3] In its first week of release, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 (ousting 50 Cent's The Massacre from the top position)[115] with 404,000 copies sold, the highest first-week sales in Carey's career, until E=MC² opened with 463,000 in 2008.

[123] It reached the six million sales mark in the US in October 2013, and in September 2022, the album was certified seven-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

[127] It was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) – denoting shipments of 70,000 unit – and finished at number twenty-seven on the End of Year Chart.

[137] The record spent a total of fifty-one weeks in the chart, and was certified gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP), signifying shipments of 100,000 copies.

[138] Eight months after its release in Europe, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified The Emancipation of Mimi platinum, denoting shipments of one million units throughout the continent.

[140] The Emancipation of Mimi debuted at number two on the Japanese Albums Chart, and was certified platinum (250,000 units shipped) by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

It earned ten Grammy Award nominations in 2006–07: eight in 2006 for the original release (the most received by Carey in a single year), and two in 2007 for Ultra Platinum Edition.