Breakdown (Mariah Carey song)

In the early 1990s, Mariah Carey was regarded as a "studio-created bland pop diva"[1] known for a middle of the road musical output.[2] Eight of her songs reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 from 1990 to 1993,[3] compared to three on the equivalent Hot R&B Singles chart.[4] Stronger contemporary R&B influences became apparent after her 1993 single "Dreamlover".[2] Carey's fifth studio album, Daydream (1995), contained some elements of hip hop music.[5] It received the best critical reviews of her career up to that point.[6] Coupled with separating from controlling husband Tommy Mottola,[lower-alpha 1] Carey felt confident to incorporate hip hop overtly in her follow-up album, Butterfly (1997).[8]

Carey recorded Butterfly during sessions from January to August 1997.[9] During this time, she conceptualized a song titled "Breakdown" with Sean Combs protégé, producer Stevie J.[10] Both men had worked on another Butterfly track, "Honey".[11] After Carey expressed interest in collaborating with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, they began studying the rap group's discography.[10] In 1996, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's single "Tha Crossroads" replaced Carey's "Always Be My Baby" at number one on the Hot 100.[12] It spent eight weeks at the summit and tied Kris Kross's "Jump" (1992) as the rap song with the most weeks at number one.[13] More recently, Stevie J produced The Notorious B.I.G./Bone Thugs-n-Harmony collaboration "Notorious Thugs".[10]

According to Stevie J, composing the music for "Breakdown" was a simple process. Carey wrote her lyrics after the instrumental was complete; her vocals were on the song by the time Bone Thugs-n-Harmony members Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone came to record.[10] She described her thought process: "I wanted to do a song in their style, so that when they came into the studio to hear it, they would know immediately that I had been totally influenced by them."[14] Upon their arrival, Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone were provided with a platter containing Hennessy and cannabis which they passed out from after getting high.[15] Awakened by their manager, the group members were receptive to "Breakdown" because it sounded similar to their previous work. Carey's knowledge of them impressed Krayzie Bone; he described her as "very laidback and like one of the homies" during the recording process.[10] "Breakdown" marked the first time Carey collaborated with rap artists on a song in its original form.[16][lower-alpha 2]

Situated among ballads (e.g. "Butterfly") and uptempo songs ("Honey"), "Breakdown" occupies a musical middle ground on Butterfly.[17] It is an R&B,[17] hip hop,[18] and hip hop soul song[12] driven by a slow groove.[19] The music was composed by Carey and Stevie J.[20] Carey, Anthony Henderson (Krayzie Bone), and Charles Scruggs (Wish Bone) wrote the lyrics; their lead and background vocals were recorded by Dana Jon Chappelle and Ian Dalsemer at The Hit Factory and Daddy's House[lower-alpha 3] studios in New York City. Stevie J played keyboards and programmed additional keyboard and drum sounds electronically. After Carey, Stevie J, and Sean "Puffy" Combs produced the song, Tony Maserati conducted mixing at The Hit Factory and Herb Powers Jr. mastered it at Powers House of Sound in New York City.[20] The album version of "Breakdown" lasts four minutes and forty-four seconds[22] and the single version is four minutes and fifteen seconds long.[23]

"Breakdown" posit questions regarding the end of a relationship: "So what do you do when / Somebody you’re so devoted to / Suddenly just stops loving you?"[24] The lyrics have a dark tone[25] yet chirping birds in the background produce an aura of optimism.[26] Carey denied assumptions that "Breakdown" refers to her separation from Mottola, stating it is "all about the [Bone Thugs-n-Harmony] rhythmic and melodic flow that I was inspired by".[14] The group rap in a fast-paced aggressive manner[12][27] affected by reggae and doo-wop.[25][28] Carey speeds up her singing as well. The fast nature of the vocals creates a contradictory emotional landscape in which Carey "ricochets between rejection and acting nonchalant".[29] She opts for a more restrained delivery, avoiding complex acrobatics until the end of "Breakdown".[24][30] Carey incorporates melisma in her vocals and produces vamps;[31][23] Bone Thugs-n-Harmony harmonize their raps in staccato-saturated couplets.[27][32] The song's coda consists of the phrase: "Breakdown, breakdown. Break–breakdown."[33]

"Breakdown" is the sixth track on Butterfly, which Columbia issued on September 10, 1997.[34] Upon the album's release, American newspapers deemed "Breakdown" a potential success in its own right.[lower-alpha 4] R&B radio stations in the country began playing it in late 1997 after a lukewarm response to album's second single, "Butterfly".[lower-alpha 5] After the song received 600 spins without promotion from Columbia, Carey believed "Breakdown" would become Butterfly's third single.[41] The label serviced it to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations in January 1998.[23][39]

Columbia gave "Breakdown" limited promotion;[42] it did not issue a commercial single in the United States after the song failed to garner crossover success on contemporary hit radio.[39] Had "Breakdown" been released to retail, the single would have broken Carey's streak of four consecutive number ones on the Hot 100.[39][lower-alpha 6] At the time, chart rules stipulated that songs required retail releases to appear and that airplay from R&B radio stations was not a factor.[43] In response, Carey disputed notions about the importance of her streak and said Columbia had a peculiar pattern of not releasing her heavy R&B material as commercial singles since her 1990 debut.[44] A writer for BET deemed "Breakdown" yet "another casualty of the Carey–Columbia feud during the Butterfly era".[45] In 2014, Billboard described it as a "stalled" single.[46]

Columbia later released "Breakdown" in the United States as a double A-side with the album's fifth single, "My All", on April 21, 1998.[39][47][48] The songs were issued together in many formats: 7-inch vinyl, 12-inch vinyl, cassette, maxi cassette, CD, and maxi CD.[49][lower-alpha 7] In Japan, "Breakdown" is the B-side to the "My All" mini CD single released on May 30, 1998.[50] It was released independently of "My All" in Oceania.[51][52] Some formats include a remix of "Breakdown" with additional rapping by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.[53] This version, with additional contributions from Layzie Bone, also appears on the group's 1998 compilation album, The Collection.[54] "Breakdown" is present on Carey's 2003 remix album, The Remixes, in its original form.[55]

"Breakdown" garnered general acclaim from music critics. David Browne from Entertainment Weekly praised the song, writing "for most of the album she keeps her notorious octave-climbing chops at bay. Showing some admirable restraint, she nestles herself into downy-soft beats. In 'Breakdown', she demonstrates she can match the staccato, lite-reggae phrasing of her guests, two members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony."[56] Rich Juzwiak from Slant noted its "lyrical strokes as broad and obvious as they are naked. Mariah the chanter flawlessly adapts to their singsong style, largely boxing her multi-octave range into a sly, hypnotic melody so that when she really wails at the end, you really feel it. As with 'The Roof', Carey lunges toward musical maturity by embracing, not shunning hip-hop. This is the height of her elegance and maybe hip-hop-soul's, too."[57]

"Breakdown" experienced success on American urban contemporary radio stations.[67] It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot R&B Airplay chart in March 1998 and surpassed "One Sweet Day" to become Carey's longest-running song on the list (30 weeks).[38][lower-alpha 9] "Breakdown" reached number 18 on Rhythmic Top 40 the same month, her lowest peak on that chart at the time.[68] Billboard originally listed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony as a featured artist, but now credits Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone individually.[38][69] On the comparative Radio & Records charts, "Breakdown" peaked at numbers 9 and 13 on urban contemporary and rhythmic contemporary radio, respectively.[70][71] It fared similarly on the Gavin Report Urban chart (No. 9)[72]

After the double A-side release with "My All", "Breakdown" debuted and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart dated May 9, 1998.[4] Sales of 25,000 units at R&B music stores accounted for 90 percent of its ranking. As the song's R&B airplay audience (6.5 million) was higher than that of the "My All" (5.2 million), the single charted as "Breakdown/My All".[73][lower-alpha 10] Although "My All" reached number one on the Hot 100 in May 1998,[3] "Breakdown" did not appear because it was not within the top 75 of Hot 100 Airplay at the time.[48][lower-alpha 11] The Recording Industry Association of America certified "Breakdown" Gold in March 2022, which denotes 500,000 units based on digital downloads and on-demand streams.[76][77]

The song's performance varied in other countries. "Breakdown" peaked at number four on the New Zealand singles chart, outperforming "Butterfly".[52][lower-alpha 12] It continued a pattern of success for Bone Thugs-n-Harmony in the country; four of their last five singles had reached the top five.[52] The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand certified it Gold, indicating shipments of 5,000 units.[78] In Australia, "Breakdown" reached number 38.[51] Although it was not officially released there,[lower-alpha 13] the double A-side single "My All/Breakdown" appeared for one week on the UK Singles Chart at number 98.[80]

Carey's cabaret performance in the music video received critical analysis

Carey and Diane Martel directed the music video for "Breakdown". Martel had previously directed videos for Carey's singles "Dreamlover" (1993) and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1994).[81] "Breakdown" sees Carey in various roles at a Las Vegas casino.[82][83] The members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony appear,[83] as do producer Jermaine Dupri and rapper Redman as a magician.[84] Visuals include Carey's butterfly tattoo and her jumping into poker chips that cover a bed.[83] In one scene performing cabaret, Carey wears a black sequin halter top on a bentwood chair.[83][85] Writers for The New York Times and Ottawa Citizen felt this gave homage to Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles in Cabaret (1972).[85][86] In the academic journal Gender & Society, Rana A. Emerson cited the camera's focus on Carey's showgirl outfit in arguing that social standards regarding the attractiveness of female R&B singers are implied.[82]

The "Breakdown" music video was issued in late 1997.[81] It received heavy rotation on BET and MTV, peaking within the top five on weekly airplay charts for those television channels as measured by Broadcast Data Systems.[87][88] Columbia Music Video released "Breakdown" as a video single on VHS with "My All" on April 21, 1998.[89][90] It was later included on Carey's 1999 video album Around the World.[91] The video was shown during Carey's live performances of "Breakdown" in the Butterfly World Tour so Bone Thugs-n-Harmony could appear by proxy.[92]

Credits adapted from the Butterfly liner notes.[20]

• Mariah Carey – background vocals, composer, lyrics, producer, vocals
• Dana Jon Chappelle – engineering
• Sean "Puffy" Combs – producer
• Ian Dalsemer – assistant engineering
• Anthony Henderson – background vocals, lyrics, vocals
• Steven Jordan – composer, keyboards, keyboard and drum programming, producer
• Tony Maserati – mixing
• Herb Powers Jr. – mastering
• Charles Scruggs – background vocals, lyrics, vocals

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