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Prince Williams / Contributor via Getty Images and Scott Dudelson / Contributor via Getty Images
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Mariah the Scientist at TwoGether Land and Kali Uchis at Coachella 2023
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Key Takeaways:
- Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis debut their first-ever duet, “Is It a Crime,” ahead of Mariah’s upcoming album.
- The track blends R&B and Latin influences as both artists reflect on love, vulnerability and emotional complexity.
- Following the success of “Burning Blue,” this new single continues Mariah’s momentum with a more introspective sound.
With HEARTS SOLD SEPARATELY approaching fast, Mariah the Scientist isn’t letting the album drop without another pre-release single. On Thursday (July 31), the singer teamed up with Kali Uchis for their first-ever collaboration, “Is It a Crime.”
Produced by Mat1k and Nineteen85, the song follows Mariah and Uchis as they wrestle with the question of whether it’s wrong to fall in love more than once. “Sometimes I look around for someone who might understand it / I seen it in they eyes that they’ll, they’ll never get it,” the Atlanta singer opens the track.
Uchis then takes over on the latter verse: “Is it a crime? How’s it a crime? No / ’Cause if loving me is jail, then you’re my prisoner / So let me throw away this key ’cause you won’t give me up.” The single keeps the momentum going for Mariah’s forthcoming album, whose rollout began back in May with “Burning Blue.” Take a listen below.
Speaking of “Burning Blue,” the track became Mariah’s first Top 25 entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and has already been certified Gold by the RIAA. Back in May, she took to social media to clarify that, despite the speculation, the song “has no specific meaning at all.”
“Everybody’s trying to force me to have a specific meaning for it, and it just doesn’t,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s what was on your heart in the moment.”
HEARTS SOLD SEPARATELY is set to arrive on Aug. 22 with just 10 tracks, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been following Mariah’s career. She’s kept all of her albums, including her last full-length, To Be Eaten Alive, on the shorter side.
Ahead of the release, fans can catch her live at Lollapalooza 2025. She’s slated to perform on Sunday (Aug. 3), with another set scheduled for the Global Citizen Festival in September.
