 While Carey 's new musical direction caused tension between her and Columbia , it began to severely strain her relationship with her husband at the time , Tommy Mottola . Mottola had always been involved in Carey 's career , because he was the head of Sony Music , the parent company of her label . Since the time of Carey 's debut , Mottola had controlled nearly every aspect of her career , keeping her sound carefully regulated and insisting that she continue recording middle @-@ of @-@ the @-@ road pop music , despite her interest in hip hop . 
