Mariah Carey’s “#Beautiful” remix featuring Miguel and A$AP Rocky is an official recording, not a leak or fan-made mashup. It appeared online through Carey’s own channel on June 26, 2013 and received a US digital release the following day. The distinction is useful because the song generated several authorized remixes in quick succession, some with new Carey vocals and others—like this one—built by adding a guest to the existing hit.
The title is properly styled “#Beautiful (Remix),” although digital services and old links frequently drop the hashtag. Miguel remains the original featured duet partner, while A$AP Rocky contributes a new opening verse and scattered ad-libs. He does not replace Miguel, and the version should not be confused with the separate Jeezy remix.
From surprise duet to summer hit
The original “#Beautiful” was unveiled in May 2013 as the lead single from Carey’s then-forthcoming album. It ultimately appeared on 2014’s Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse. The record paired Carey with Miguel, whose warm guitar figure, drum programming and slightly weathered vocal helped create a concise piece of retro-styled R&B.
Carey and Miguel co-produced the original, with Nathan “Happy” Perez credited as co-producer and Brook “D’Leau” Davis contributing additional production and drum programming. The documented writers are Mariah Carey, Miguel Pimentel, Nathan Perez, Brook Davis, Mac Robinson and Brian Keith Warfield; the same names are preserved in song-copyright information. Recording personnel include engineers Brian Garten and Chris Plata, while Manny Marroquin mixed the track with assistants Chris Galland and Delbert Bowers.
The original entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 24 and eventually peaked at number 15. In Britain, the Official Charts archive records its performance under Mariah Carey featuring Miguel. Those chart positions belong to the underlying hit’s campaign; they should not automatically be assigned to the A$AP Rocky remix as though it charted independently.
Its sound was deliberately economical. Distorted guitar, handclap-like percussion and close harmonies suggested early-1970s soul without turning the production into costume drama. Carey resisted opening the record with an immediate vocal showcase. Miguel enters first, and her arrival later creates the song’s most important lift.
June 26 or June 27?
Both dates associated with the remix are correct, but they refer to different events. Pitchfork reported on June 26 that Rocky had added a verse to the new version. Carey’s verified YouTube channel also posted the authorized audio that day.
The commercial single followed on June 27. Contemporary release records and the surviving Apple Music product page identify it as a one-track Def Jam single, although Apple’s current metadata displays only the year rather than a dependable day and month. Contemporary reporting and release-history documentation consistently supply June 27 as the US download date.
That chronology resolves the apparent discrepancy: June 26 was the official online premiere; June 27 was the retail release. Neither was an unauthorized leak. Rap-Up’s contemporary item explicitly called it the first of five planned remixes and embedded Carey’s official upload.
What Rocky changes—and what he leaves alone
Rocky’s verse is placed at the beginning, before Miguel’s familiar entrance. That sequencing briefly reframes the record as a rap-feature remix, but most of the original arrangement remains intact. Carey and Miguel’s verses, harmonies and central guitar groove still carry the song.
His performance favors flirtation and lifestyle detail over narrative development. The relaxed cadence is compatible with the production’s unhurried swing, and his ad-libs add a contemporary hip-hop marker to a record otherwise looking back toward vintage soul. As interpretation, his role feels promotional and tonal rather than transformational: he supplies another recognizable personality without changing the emotional relationship at the song’s center.
That limited intervention differentiates this version from the more elaborate Carey remixes for which she is celebrated. Across her career, Carey has often re-recorded vocals, rewritten sections and commissioned new productions until a remix functions almost like another composition. On the Rocky version, the architecture and most of the vocal master remain recognizable.
This is why claims that Carey “re-sang the A$AP remix” should be treated cautiously. Contemporary coverage said four additional versions with resung elements were coming, but the detailed remix history maintained by The Mariah Network distinguishes Rocky’s added appearance from the Jeezy remix, for which Carey recorded new vocals and DJ Mustard reworked the beat.
Five remixes, several different strategies
The rapid rollout created understandable confusion. After the Rocky version came “#Hermosa,” a Spanglish adaptation in which Carey and Miguel moved between Spanish and English. Pitchfork identified it as the second in the five-remix series.
Dance versions followed from Louie Vega and Sidney Samson. The Jeezy remix introduced a more substantially altered hip-hop production and freshly recorded Carey material. A later Cazzette mix also circulated officially, while Carey previewed another resung dance treatment that remained unreleased.
These versions should not be collapsed into one generic “Beautiful Remix.” The Rocky single runs approximately three minutes and 21 seconds and begins with his verse. The Jeezy recording has different rap vocals and production changes. “#Hermosa” is a bilingual performance. The dance mixes reshape tempo, duration and club function.
A misleading filename can therefore obscure which master is actually being discussed. The safest identifiers are featured artist, duration and official catalog listing. The Apple Music single page specifically names Miguel and A$AP Rocky and carries the 2013 Island Def Jam copyright.
A remix campaign built around abundance
Carey’s remix practice has long treated songs as expandable. In the 1990s, she used club productions, hip-hop guests and newly recorded vocals to reach different audiences without presenting one version as the sole definitive text. The “#Beautiful” campaign revived that model in the compressed rhythm of the social-media era.
The hashtag in the original title was a conspicuous 2013 device, encouraging searchable conversation. The remix sequence extended that logic: each new configuration generated another short news cycle while the parent single remained on radio. Rocky, then coming off the commercial arrival of Long.Live.A$AP, brought current rap visibility without displacing Miguel’s role.
Musically, that conservatism has advantages and drawbacks. Rocky’s low-key entrance fits the track’s atmosphere, and listeners who liked the original receive almost all of it. Yet the remix does not produce the radical reimagining heard on classic Carey revisions such as the “Fantasy” remix or “Thank God I Found You”/“Make It Last.” It functions more like an expanded guest edition.
That judgment is interpretive. The documented fact is that Carey presented it as one component of a multi-remix strategy, not as a replacement for the original or the only hip-hop version.
The official audio and the absent video
Carey’s official artist channel hosts the directly relevant June 26 audio upload. Its description linked listeners to clean and explicit retail editions, firmly establishing label-sanctioned distribution.
There is no separate narrative music video for the A$AP Rocky remix. The Joseph Kahn-directed original video features Carey and Miguel, while later footage and alternate edits belong to other configurations. Contemporary speculation that scenes filmed in Capri might accompany a remix did not result in a dedicated Rocky video.
This makes the official audio visualization the authoritative watch link. Fan edits that combine Rocky’s verse with footage from the original video may be entertaining, but they are not official music videos and should not be labeled as such.
A precise place in Carey’s remix catalog
The A$AP Rocky version is best understood as the opening move in the “#Beautiful” remix campaign: premiered June 26, commercially released June 27, and built from the Carey-Miguel hit with a new guest verse. Its foundation retains the original writers, producers and recording personnel, with Rocky receiving the appropriate credit for his added contribution.
It neither leaked nor disappeared into bootleg history. The authorized upload and digital listing remain available. What has blurred over time is its identity amid several similarly titled versions.
Separated from those neighbors, its purpose becomes clear. Carey used a rising rapper to update the framing of an already contemporary soul record, preserving the duet’s chemistry while widening the campaign’s reach. It is a modest structural remix but a revealing example of how carefully she managed abundance: one song, multiple audiences and no assumption that a successful master had to remain fixed.