Mariah Carey’s 1995 album featuring “Always Be My Baby” is Daydream. It was her fifth studio album and followed the commercially enormous Music Box and the holiday album Merry Christmas.
Daydream was released by Columbia Records in late September and early October 1995, depending on the market. The album blended Carey’s pop and R&B foundations with stronger urban influences. It included “Fantasy,” “One Sweet Day,” “Underneath the Stars,” and “Always Be My Baby,” giving Carey several of the most successful songs of the 1990s.
“Always Be My Baby” was written by Carey with Jermaine Dupri and Manuel Seal. It became the album’s third US single and eventually gave Carey her 11th number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 1996 Grammy Awards.
Music Box is the most common mix-up because it was Carey’s previous major studio album, released in 1993. Butterfly came later, in 1997, while Emotions dates from 1991.