 Daydream is the fifth studio album by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey , released on October 3 , 1995 , by Columbia Records . The follow @-@ up to her internationally successful album Music Box ( 1993 ) and holiday album Merry Christmas ( 1994 ) , Daydream differed from the two by leaning increasingly towards R & B and hip hop . Throughout the project , Carey collaborated with Walter Afanasieff , with whom she wrote and produced most of her two previous albums . With Daydream , Carey took more control over the musical direction as well as the album 's composition . Carey said she considered Daydream the beginning of her musical and vocal transformation , a change that became more apparent in her sixth album Butterfly ( 1997 ) . During the album 's production , Carey endured many creative differences with her label and husband Tommy Mottola . 
