Mariah Carey: You’ll never guess how much someone paid for the ultra-rare 1988 demo tape
Want to have your mind blown? How about finding out music icon Mariah Carey’s ultra-rare 1988 demo tape still exists? Even better - how about finding out how much it sold for in 2025? Oh yes.
It’s a celebration for Black excellence and proof Mariah defines R&B greatness. Peep the deets of this $54,000-plus purchase.
Wax Poetics has confirmed the sale of an exceptionally rare early Mariah Carey demo tape for $54,050. Sourced from producer Arthur Baker’s personal archive and offered in partnership with Brenda K. Starr, the cassette was given to Baker on the same night Carey was discovered at a 1989 Christmas party. Revered as a “holy grail” by fans and collectors, the recording is one of the only known originals to survive and the first of its kind to ever reach public auction.
The tape contains seven formative recordings from 1988, including five early versions of songs that became the nucleus of Carey’s self-titled 1990 debut album – which produced four No. 1 singles–plus two unreleased tracks long mythologized by fans and collectors. Its emergence and subsequent sale underscore the item’s status as a defining piece of pop and R&B history.
“This tape is history – a real one-of-a-kind piece that has been long sought-after by Mariah fans” says Wax Poetics CEO Alex Bruh. “The impact this tape has had on music is unprecedented and we are incredibly proud to have been a part of its story. It captures the exact moment a generational voice was taking shape, and stands as a testament to her self-made beginnings and the creative foundations that defined her ascent.”
The demo is directly tied to the now-legendary 1989 Christmas party where Brenda K. Starr, an early champion of Mariah’s talent, introduced Carey and the demo to Tommy Mottola. Having initially planned to bring her mother, Starr brought Carey instead, hoping to help her secure a record deal. That decision set off one of the most consequential breakthroughs in pop music history.
Produced and arranged with Ben Margulies and Chris Toland, the recordings present Carey in her raw, unfiltered pre-label creative form. Early versions of “Someday”, “Alone in Love”, and “All In Your Mind” reveal her wide-ranging musical instincts: Minneapolis-inspired funk, quiet storm elegance, new-wave-infused synth-pop textures, and R&B sensibilities that Columbia would later distill for her debut.
As Toland recalls: “The songs were more primitive in demo form, but all the elements that led to the final record are there – the hooks, the background vocals, the kicks, the chords. Mariah already had it.”
THE WINNING LOT INCLUDES:
The original 1989 Mariah Carey demo cassette
Certificate of authenticity
Archival notes and historical documentation
Verified materials researched by the Wax Poetics archive team
The sale marks a milestone moment in Wax Poetics’ growing archival auction series, which merges deep editorial storytelling with authenticated cultural artifacts to preserve and elevate music history. Previous archival releases have highlighted the legacies of Nightmares on Wax, Bootsy Collins, Don Blackman, Louie Vega, and Arthur Baker.
ABOUT WAX POETICS
Since 2001 Wax Poetics has been delivering deep-dive journals covering everything related to record collecting culture. Wax Poetics has now evolved into a premier music collectibles marketplace, connecting artists, collectors, and fans through rare and exclusive items, bridging music storytelling with unique memorabilia and items. The Arthur Baker Collection follows auctions with funk icon Bootsy Collins, and house legend Louie Vega, DâM-FunK, and Tony Wilson / Factory Records. For more information visit waxpoetics.com.
ABOUT ARTHUR BAKER
Arthur Baker started DJing in the early-70s in his native Boston and released his first production in 1977. Moving to New York in the early 80s at the peak of disco, Arthur first heard Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans-Europe Express’ and was inspired to transpose that evocative melody with an electronic drum track, which eventually became Afrika Bambaataa and Planet Patrol’s iconic ‘Planet Rock’, the first electronic hip-hop tune, which had a monumental impact as electro-funk was born in NYC. As well as pioneering the ‘cut ‘n’ paste’ sampling technique, Baker also foresaw the coming dance music trend by hiring DJs to help mix his own releases to give maximum impact on the dancefloor. In the intervening years, as a producer and record label head, Arthur has released countless records and remixes and continues to DJ internationally. Alongside rapper Nas, Arthur is currently working on a Broadway musical adaptation of classic hip-hip film Beat Street. He also curates the Dancemasters compilation series and presents the ‘Baker’s Revenge’ radio show on SiriusXM.
