with "butterfly", carey continued the transition that began with previous album, "daydream" (1995), which pushed her further into the r&b and hip hop market and away from the pop background of her previous work. during her marriage to tommy mottola, carey had little control over the creative and artistic steps she took on her albums; however, after their divorce midway through the album's conception, she was able to reflect her creative maturity and evolution in the album's writing and recording. carey wrote in the booklet of her twelfth studio album, "memoirs of an imperfect angel" (2009), that she considers "butterfly" her "magnum opus" and a turning point in both her life and career.