Emotions is the second album recorded by Mariah Carey and was released shortly after the release of her album debut. The album was released in the United States on September 17, 1991 and debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 chart. Emotions provided Mariah Carey with a solid second effort as it certified five times platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). Emotions yielded three top ten hits in the United States; worldwide, “Emotions,” the lead single proved to be a major hit similar to “Vision of Love.”

Emotions was the first album in which Carey showed her abilities as a producer, which impressed many critics. Mariah Carey had more opportunities to take control on the project, so she chose the people with whom she desired to collaborate. Carey also decided to create a more soulful sound as she kept exploring R&B territories. Despite the success writing the material for the first album, and due to conflict between Carey and Ben Margulies, he did not collaborate in this project. The conflict was caused by a contract which entitled Margulies half of all her earnings. When the contract was broken by Sony/Columbia executives, Carey tried to save the friendship and professional relationship, but the musicians could not reach an agreement.

During the production of Emotions, Carey dismissed all of the producers who worked on her first album. Mariah decided that she wanted to collaborate with Michael Walden’s protégé, Walter Afanasieff, the musician who was commanded to produce “Love Takes Time.” They started creating hits from the moment the met. Carey would improvise melodies over chords and Afanasieff would play them. Emotions gathered a new group of people who provided a different tone to Carey’s music. The up-tempo numbers would be in charge of David Cole and Robert Clivillés of the C&C Music Factory. Together, they created the hits “Emotions” and “Make it Happen.”

Carey felt that the album needed up-tempo compositions and had always been a big fan of hip hop music, but Sony/Columbia executives felt she was going too far and ruled out her suggestion to introduce hip hop into her material. Other tracks from these sessions included “To Be Around You” and “You’re So Cold,” which was the first option to be the lead single but dismissed after “Emotions” was written.

During the recording sessions, folk/pop singer Carole King called Mariah telling her that she was impressed by her debut album. King suggested a cover of “A Natural Woman,” but Mariah thought she could not sing it as Aretha Franklin. King instead suggested that they write a new song; eventually, they wrote “If It's Over.” The final composition in the album was “The Wind.” It is a jazz number previously released by Russell Freeman; however, Carey wrote new lyrics inspired by the death of a friend in a car accident.

Sony/Columbia executives thought that “The Wind” could be the title of the album, and that it would fit Mariah’s name, which was originated from the song "They Call the Wind Mariah.” However, “Emotions” expressed more about the different themes portrayed in the album. Emotions earned two 1992 Grammy Award nominations for "Producer of the Year" and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" (for "Emotions"), losing in both categories. Internationally, Emotions became a big seller reaching the top five in Canada, Australia, Japan, and the UK.