Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is the 12th studio album by Mariah. Originally scheduled for release on August 25, 2009 the project will now be released on September 25, 2009 in Netherlands and Poland through Universal Music, September 29 with Island Records in the US and October 5 with Mercury Records in the UK.

"Obsessed" was released as the album's first single on June 16, 2009. It debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has become Carey's 40th entry on the Hot 100, making her only the eighth woman in the chart's history to make 40 or more appearances. It is also her highest Hot 100 debut since 1998's "My All".

In early 2009, singer-songwriter The-Dream stated that he and Carey had already begun working on her next studio album: "I think it’s about just writing an album that includes the focus of all the hits that she’s had. She can’t take a loss; she has to do everything to the T. So it’s basically like we’re trying to make a greatest hits album without using the greatest hits". In February 2009, MySpace Music interviewed The-Dream, he revealed that he and Carey had finished seven songs for the album.

Carey revealed on May 20, 2009 that she was calling the album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel because it was going to be "very personal and dedicated to the fans". She says that the reason she chose to use three images for the cover art is because "there are a lot of different emotions and stories revealed on this album". Carey also stated that she loves "the whole album" and she's "completely immersed in it". On June 16, Carey said on Twitter that there will be "big ballads" on the album. Carey also said that she "tried to make something for all who love Butterfly, and even older albums". For the first time in her career, Carey worked with with American Grammy Award-winning hip-hop and R&B record-producer Timbaland on a song for the album and although well-documented, the song did not appear on the final track listing. The reasons for which are unspecified. Another song called "Imperfect" written by Carey, dealing with societal pressure on women to "be perfect and look a certain way", also failed to make the track listing. In an interview with BET, Carey said that she also worked with Jermaine Dupri, however, their collaboration did not make the final track listing. Despite the majority of the project being written and produced by Carey, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, the main goal was to avoid having a "redundant or stale" album. In an interview with Elle Carey described the sound of her new album: "Each song is its own snapshot of a moment in a story. But overall, the vibe is R&B hip-hop with a lot of slow jams. [...] Each song has its own mood; some flow seamlessly into each other, and that was the purpose, and others are very different. The album has a sense of humor, [you can hear me laughing out loud at certain points], but it also has deep and introspective moments."

During an interview with music retailer Amazon.com, Carey revealed her inspiration and motivation for the album. "Each song tells its own story. Each one is like an intimate conversation or entry in a private diary. A lot of the songs reflect specific, different times in my life, actual events that happened to me, some of which are from way back in the past. Others were inspired by movies or from a friend of mine that may have told me their story. People can listen to it and pick out certain songs that mean something to them - women especially. It's about women's empowerment and overcoming certain things. It's fun too though. It's got a little bit of something for everybody".

The album was initially pushed back from August 25 to September 15 so that more recording in the studio could take place but it has since been revealed that the album is to be pushed back once more to September 29, 2009, with all promotion being delayed so that Carey can put finishing touches on the album. As per most releases the album will be released several days earlier in international territories/markets. British newspaper The Daily Mirror, got a preview of six tracks that will appear on the album, these being "Obsessed", "Standing O", "Candy Bling", "H.A.T.E.U." (which stands for "Having A Typical Emotional Upset") "Impossible" and a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is". Media playbacks of these six tracks were held in Tokyo, Hong Kong, London and Berlin in August 2009.

Amazon.com revealed that the physical release of the album will come as a 3-panel softpack as opposed to the usual plastic CD casing. This is due to the inclusion of two discs, the first will house the album itself whilst the second will be an enhanced CD featuring the music video for lead single "Obsessed" as well as the video for "Obsessed" (official remix featuring Gucci Mane) and three other remixes. The packaging will also include a 34-page Elle mini-magazine which takes an exclusive in-depth look at Carey's life and career. The mini-magazine will be mixed in with lyrics and other traditional liner-note materials as well as upscale ads to cut the production costs of the booklet. The ad-supported booklets — which will also be available in a digital format for downloaders — will appear in the first 1 million U.S. copies of the CD and the first 500,000 overseas.

It was also revealed that a limited edition collectors' version of the album will also be released. The collectors' edition released on October 20, 2009 will feature the album and its bonus disc on both standard CDs and limited edition white vinyl LPs plus six rare lithographs, the limited edition Elle mini-magazine, a signature butterfly band and exclusively designed collector's box packaging.