Mariah Carey Reflects on Ol' Dirty Bastard's 'Fantasy' Feature: 'Every Single Part of It Was Genius'

Carey looks back at her time working with the singular hip-hop talent in the new documentary, 'Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys'

Mariah Carey is remembering the "genius" of her late collaborator and friend Ol' Dirty Bastard.

As part of the new A&E documentary Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys, which follows the life and career of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper, Carey reflected on their time working together on the smash-hit 1995 "Fantasy" remix.

"I was surrounded by record company people that really wanted me to be in one specific lane." Carey, now 55, said of her career before releasing her fifth studio album, Daydream. "Which was a very successful lane for me. But I had a love of hip-hop music since I was a kid."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

As she explained, after the release of SWV's 1994 track "Anything" — a song featuring members of the Wu — Carey ended up linking with ODB and had "no idea what he was gonna say" on their remixed version of "Fantasy."

"I had no idea what the rhyme was gonna be at all. I'm like listening in on the phone. I remember this engineer, poor guy, he was this short little Caucasian man. Really cool, nice guy, but wasn't ready for ODB," Carey recalled with a laugh. "He was like, 'Yo devil! Go get me this and that.' I was listening on the phone like, 'Oh my God.'"

Related: How Ol' Dirty Bastard Lifted Car and Saved 4-Year-Old's Life: 'You Definitely Helped My Child' (Exclusive)

After a few hours of ODB perfecting his verses, Carey said she finally heard the song on speakerphone and felt like "the giddiest kid on earth."

"[I was] basically jumping up and down on the bed, so happy," she said. "And when he gets to the 'me and Mariah' section, I'm flipping out even more. I'm like, 'I can't even believe what this is.'"

But just as much as fans remember "Fantasy" for ODB's fun wordplay, his performance in the track's music video has perhaps left just as much as a lasting impact. In the documentary, Carey explained that when it came to the visual for the hit, she imagined a concept set in Rye Playland and giving it a fresh spin in the ODB version.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Related: Ol' Dirty Bastard Had 'Legitimate Concern' About Government Surveillance Before Reveal of FBI File on Wu-Tang Clan

"In the pop version, the clown, he's leading you through the video," Carey recalled. "So I said to ODB, 'What do you think about that clown if now you've tied him on this pole and you've clearly taken over the moment?' And he was like, 'Yo, that's peace, that's peace, that's peace, that's peace.' And I was like, 'OK, let's go.'"

"I love his performance in that video. Every single part of it was genius," she added. "The way he performed, he was free. He did stuff so spontaneously, in the moment. He was in the moment. Even when he had the wig on and was looking up at the sky with no shirt — like, that's his thing."

Beyond just ODB's work with Carey, the new documentary on the rapper's life touches on the rise of Wu-Tang, the moment he rescued a 4-year-old girl from underneath a car, his time in prison and his untimely overdose death on Nov. 13, 2004, two days before his 36th birthday.

Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys officially premiered on Sunday, Aug. 25 on A&E.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.