The One (Mariah Carey song)

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"The One"
Single by Mariah Carey
from the album Charmbracelet
Released	2002
Format	Promo CD single, promo 12" single
Genre	Pop/R&B
Length	3:59
Label	Island/Def Jam
Writer(s)	Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan Michael Cox
Producer(s)	Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri
Mariah Carey singles chronology
"Through the Rain" (2002)	"MC... Move the Crowd"/ "The One" (2002)	"Boy (I Need You)" (2003)

"The One" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey for her twelfth album, Charmbracelet. It was co-written by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox and co-produced by Dupri, and its protagonist laments that she may have indeed found "the one", but has already promised herself that she wouldn't love again out of fear of being hurt. It was originally scheduled to be the second single from Charmbracelet, and promotional CDs had been pressed and released to radio stations in December 2002, with a set impact date of January 13, 2003 (see 2003 in music). Initial public reaction to the song was favorable, and Carey approved a treatment from director Joseph Kahn for the single's video. Filming was set to begin in Japan on November 25, 2002, and the final scenes of the video would be shot on location in Los Angeles.

Fans mobbed Carey and the film crew on the first day of production, forcing police to shut down filming and issue warnings to Carey, Kahn, and the rest of the crew for creating a nuisance. MTV highlighted the making of the video in a special documentary. Additionally, Carey's fans in Japan lobbied for a different song to be released as the second single. While the video was being completed in Los Angeles, both Carey and her label MonarC decided not to release a slow jam following the failure of the album's first single, "Through the Rain", in the U.S. While not a ballad like its predecessor, "The One" was abruptly withdrawn and replaced with the uptempo and hip hop-oriented "Boy (I Need You)". All promotion was now directed toward the new single, and the footage shot in Japan was edited into a video for "Boy (I Need You)".

"The One" was commissioned to various remixers before its release was cancelled, and the remixes created by the duo Widelife leaked onto the internet in January 2003. Although those remixes were commissioned by MonarC, the label never officially released them. Universal Music Group re-released the Charmbracelet album in 2003 in Asia, and the four new tracks on the re-release included a new "So So Def" remix of "The One" with Bone Crusher as a guest artist. Carey reunited with original producer Jermaine Dupri to rewrite part of the lyrics and re-record her vocals on the remix. Bone Crusher added a rap bridge to the song, and Dupri's vocals are heard throughout the track. Because Carey and Dupri used elements of Guy's "Goodbye Love" for the remix, songwriting credit for it was shared with Teddy Riley, Gene Griffin, Aaron Hall, and Timmy Gatling. A slightly different production of the "So So Def" remix was included on Carey's thirteenth album, The Remixes (2003).