 " Fantasy " exemplified how a music sample could be transformed " into a fully realized pop masterpiece " . The song and its remix arguably remains as one of Carey 's most important singles to date . Due to the success and influence of the song , Carey is credited for introducing R & B and hip hop collaboration into mainstream pop culture , and for popularizing rap as a featuring act through her post @-@ 1995 songs . Sasha Frere @-@ Jones , editor of The New Yorker commented in referencing to the song 's remix , " It became standard for R & B / hip @-@ hop stars like Missy Elliott and Beyoncé , to combine melodies with rapped verses . And young white pop stars — including Britney Spears , ' N Sync , and Christina Aguilera — have spent much of the past ten years making pop music that is unmistakably R & B. " Moreover , Jones concludes that " Her idea of pairing a female songbird with the leading male MCs of hip @-@ hop changed R & B and , eventually , all of pop . Although now anyone is free to use this idea , the success of " Mimi " [ ref. to The Emancipation of Mimi , her tenth studio album released almost a decade after Fantasy ] suggests that it still belongs to Carey . " 
