"Breakdown" is a song recorded by American singer Mariah Carey for her sixth studio album, Butterfly (1997). In the lyrics, she describes the aftermath of a partner ending their love for the other and the trouble of hiding the pain it caused. The track features rapping by Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone, members of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Before they wrote and performed their raps, Carey composed the music with Stevie J and penned her lyrics. The latter pair produced "Breakdown" with Sean "Puffy" Combs. An R&B, hip hop, and hip hop soul song, "Breakdown" features keyboards, synthesized drums, and background vocals prominently. Columbia Records released it to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations in January1998 as the third single from Butterfly.
Critics judged "Breakdown" in relation to Carey's previous work and considered the collaboration with Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony successful. Some perceived it to be about the recent separation from her husband Tommy Mottola, which she denied. Carey publicly criticized Columbia for a perceived longstanding anti-R&B bias against her music after it did not release the song to retail outlets in the United States. "Breakdown" was thus initially ineligible to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was later issued as a double A-side with "My All" and reached number four on Hot R&B Singles. "Breakdown" experienced consistent airplay on American urban contemporary radio stations and it became Carey's longest-running title on Hot R&B Airplay until 2005. Elsewhere, "Breakdown" peaked at number four in New Zealand and number thirty-eight in Australia.
Carey directed the music video with previous collaborator Diane Martel. It presents her in various roles at a casino such as a showgirl and cabaret performer; the latter received comparisons to Liza Minnelli. "Breakdown" received heavy rotation on the television channels BET and MTV and was issued as a video single. Clips accompanied Carey's live performances of the song during the 1998 Butterfly World Tour. Retrospectively, "Breakdown" is regarded as a turning point in Carey's musical direction toward hip hop and as one of the best songs of her career.
Background
In the early 1990s, American singer Mariah Carey was known for middle of the road music. Stronger contemporary R&B influences became apparent in her music with "Dreamlover", a song from her 1993 album Music Box. Carey's fifth album, Daydream (1995), contained elements of hip hop. After receiving the best critical reviews of her career up to that point and separating from her husband Tommy Mottola, the head of her record label Columbia, Carey felt confident to incorporate hip hop overtly in her follow-up album Butterfly (1997).
Experiencing creative freedom, Carey recorded Butterfly from January to August1997. During this time, she became enamored with "Notorious Thugs" by The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, a song produced by Stevie J and Sean "Puffy" Combs. Carey expressed interest in collaborating with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to Stevie J, and they began studying the rap group's discography. In 1995, Combs had produced the hip hop remix of Carey's song "Fantasy" featuring Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Composition
Situated among ballads (e.g. "Butterfly") and uptempo songs ("Honey"), "Breakdown" occupies a musical middle ground on Butterfly. It is an R&B, and hip hop soul song driven by a slow groove. The album version lasts four minutes and forty-four seconds and the single is four minutes and fifteen seconds long. "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."
Columbia chartered a plane to Cleveland, Ohio, to bring the group members to record in New York City. Upon their arrival, Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone were given cannabis which they passed out from after becoming intoxicated. Awakened by their manager, the group members were receptive to "Breakdown" because it sounded similar to their previous work. studios.
"Breakdown" concerns concealing heartbreak after a romantic relationship ended due to rejection. Others posit questions about how to move on: "So what do you do when / Somebody you're so devoted to / Suddenly just stops loving you?" The lyrics have a dark tone, and chirping birds in the background elicit an optimistic aura. Some critics thought the song detailed the end of Carey's marriage with Mottola. Others felt the perceived references were not as clear.
The song structure of "Breakdown" contains two verses and a chorus sung by Carey, two raps by Wish Bone, and two raps by Krayzie Bone. Influenced by reggae and doo-wop, they rap in a fast-paced aggressive manner. New York Times writer Jon Pareles perceived this delivery as showcasing she is torn between feeling despair and detachment. Carey incorporates melisma in her vocals and produces vamps. At times half-whispering, Departing from her practice of having a male singer like Trey Lorenz add background vocals in a low register that complement the lead, Carey provides them herself on "Breakdown". They are featured prominently throughout the track and, according to Grey Cavitt of the Waco Tribune-Herald, "threaten to bring about the psychological break promised by the title".
Release
"Breakdown" is the sixth track on Butterfly, which Sony Music issued on September 10, 1997. Upon the album's release, American newspaper critics deemed "Breakdown" a potentially successful single. R&B radio stations in the country began playing it in late 1997 amid a lukewarm response to the album's second single, "Butterfly". After "Breakdown" received over 600 spins without promotion, Columbia released the song to American rhythmic contemporary radio stations in January1998. During an interview in late 1998, Carey said Columbia had a peculiar pattern of not releasing her heavily R&B material as commercial singles since her 1990 debut: "I'll always be upset 'Breakdown' never got its shot."
Columbia released "Breakdown" in the United States as a double A-side with the album's fifth single, "My All", on April 21, 1998. The songs were issued together in many formats: 7-inch vinyl, 12-inch vinyl, cassette, maxi cassette, CD, and maxi CD.