Breakdown (Mariah Carey Song)

"Breakdown" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her sixth studio album ''Butterfly'' (1997). The song features rap verses by two of the five members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The song was released in January 1998 by Columbia Records as the fourth third single from ''Butterfly''. Similar to the treatments of the "Butterfly" and " The Roof", "Breakdown" received a limited worldwide release due to Carey's conflict at the time with Sony. The song's lyrics describe the emotions someone feels when their lover suddenly stops loving and leaves them, and the pain, or breakdown, it causes the person. The song was well received by contemporary music critics.

Due to the song's limited release, "Breakdown" did not chart in most major music markets, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, where it peaked at numbers 38 and four, respectively. In the United States, due to ''Billboard'' rules at the time, the song was unable to chart on the Hot 100, but charted at number 53 on the Hot 100 Airplay. In the accompanying music video, Carey goes through a variety of different colorful outfits, with matching make-up. Of the many changes, two scenes predominantly occupy the video. The first in Carey dressed in flamenco-style clothing, while dancing on a chair with two other female dancers. The other features Carey and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony gambling in a casino.

Background

Carey recorded the song at The Hit Factory in New York City throughout 1997. "Breakdown" was one of the first of Carey's album tracks to veer in a hip hop direction, and many were surprised when she contacted Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to record the song because she was considered more of a R&B/adult contemporary artist.
According to author Chris Nickson, "Breakdown" was an important component of ''Butterfly'': "'Breakdown' showed Mariah treading forcefully into territory that was new for her and making it her own; it had a melody that simmered under her vocal and a groove that was irresistible." When Carey began recording the album, she had slow and sultry ballads such as "Whenever You Call" and "Butterfly," but also had big R&B and hip hop uptempo numbers like "Honey". For this reason, Carey recorded "Breakdown" in order to fill in the midsection of the album and serve as the album's "backbone." Since 1995, Carey had collaborated with rappers on remixes to her songs "Fantasy", "Always Be My Baby", and "Honey". The release of "Breakdown" marked the first time she collaborated with rap artists on a song in its original form.

Composition

"Breakdown" is a slow and sultry song which blends R&B and hip hop genres. It incorporates drum notes, including heavy beats and grooves. The song features rap verses by Krayzie and Wish Bone. As part of "layering the song," background vocals are featured throughout the chorus and sections of the bridge. It is set in the signature common time and is written in the key of E major. It features a basic chord progression of Fm-Gm-A-Fm7.
Carey's vocal range in the song spans from the note of B₂ to the high note of F₅; the piano and guitar pieces range from F₃ to G₅ as well. The song contains choral lyrics written by Carey, who produced the song's melody and chorus as well. Aside from assisting with its writing and chord progression, Stevie J and Puff Daddy co-produced the song as well.

A different edit of the song, "The Mo' Thugs Remix", features longer raps from Krayzie and Wish Bone and an intro and verse from Layzie Bone, who was absent from the original version. This version can be found on Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's compilation '' The Collection Volume One'' (1998).

Release

Upon the release of ''Butterfly'', American newspapers deemed "Breakdown" a potential hit song. R&B radio stations in the country began playing it in late 1997 after a lukewarm response to album's second single, "Butterfly". In November 1997, Carey suggested "Breakdown" would become ''Butterfly''s third single after it received 600 spins without promotion from Columbia. The record label released "Breakdown" in January 1998 and promoted it to rhythmic contemporary radio stations in the United States. Columbia did not issue a commercial single after the song failed to garner crossover success on contemporary hit radio. Had "Breakdown" been released to retail, the single would have broken Carey's streak of four consecutive number ones on the chart. At the time, Hot 100 rules stipulated that songs required commercial releases to appear and that airplay from R&B radio stations was not factored into the chart's formulation. In an interview with ''Vibe'' later that year, Carey disputed notions the release was cancelled for protecting her streak and said the label had a peculiar pattern of not releasing her heavy R&B material as commercial singles since ''Mariah Carey'' (1990).

Columbia later commercially 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. In Japan, "Breakdown" is the B-side to the "My All" mini CD single released on May 30, 1998. It was released independently of "My All" in Oceania. Some formats include a remix of "Breakdown" with additional rapping by Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony. This version, with additional writing by Layzie Bone, also appears on the group's 1998 compilation album, '' The Collection''. "Breakdown" is present on Carey's 2003 remix album, '' The Remixes'', in its original form.

Reception

"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." Rich Juzwiak from ''Slant'' called "Breakdown" "the song of Carey's career," noting 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."

Writers for Revolt and ''Complex'' retrospectively considered "Breakdown" among the best songs in Stevie J's production discography. In 2022, writer for ''Vibe'' called the song "one of arey'sgreatest Hip-Hop/R&B crossovers".

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Breakdown" debuted at number 66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Airplay chart dated October 18, 1997. Following promotion at radio, it peaked at number thirteen in March 1998. On the Rhythmic Top 40 chart, it peaked at number eighteen the same month. ''Billboard'' originally listed Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony as a featured artist, but now credits Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone individually. After the release of the double-A side single with "My All", "Breakdown" debuted and peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles chart dated May 9, 1998. Sales of 25,000 units at R&B music stores accounted for 90 percent of its chart points. 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". The songs did not appear together on the Hot 100 because "Breakdown" was not within the top 75 on Hot 100 Airplay at the time, having reached number fifty-three in March 1998. 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.

The song's chart performance varied in other countries. "Breakdown" peaked at number four on the New Zealand singles chart, outperforming "Butterfly". It continued a pattern of success for Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony in the country; five of their last six singles had peaked within the top five. The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand certified it Gold, denoting shipments of 7,500 units. In Australia, "Breakdown" reached number thirty-eight and became Carey's lowest-charting single since "I Don't Wanna Cry" in 1991. The song remains Bone-Thugs-n-Harmony's most recent chart appearance in the country. Although it was not released there, the double A-side single "My All/Breakdown" appeared for one week on the UK Singles Chart at number ninety-eight.

Music video

Carey and Diane Martel directed the accompanying music video for "Breakdown". Martel had previously directed videos for Carey's singles " Dreamlover" (1993) and " All I Want for Christmas Is You" (1994). The "Breakdown" music video was issued in late 1997. Columbia Music Video released it as a video single on VHS with "My All" on April 21, 1998. It was later included on Carey's 1999 video album '' Around the World''.

"Breakdown" sees Carey in various roles at a Las Vegas casino. The members of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony appear, as do producer Jermaine Dupri and rapper Redman as a magician. Visuals include Carey's butterfly tattoo and her jumping into poker chips that cover a bed. In one scene performing cabaret, Carey wears a black sequin halter top on a bentwood chair. Writers for ''The New York Times'' and ''Ottawa Citizen'' felt this gave homage to Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles in ''Cabaret'' (1972). In ''Gender & Society'', Rana A. Emerson cited the camera's focus on Carey's revealing showgirl outfit in arguing that social standards regarding the attractiveness of female R&B singers are implied.

Legacy

Referring to its absence from the Hot 100, a writer for BET deemed "Breakdown" yet "another casualty of the Carey–Columbia feud during the ''Butterfly'' era". In 2014, ''Billboard'' described it as a "stalled" single. Notwithstanding chart performance, "Breakdown" is considered impactful. Reviewing ''Buttefly'' in 2003, Rich Juzwiak of ''Slant Magazine'' stated Carey's embrace of hip-hop with the song served to advance her musical development. In 2017, a writer for ''Vibe'' said the song solidified "Carey's transition into the world of hip-hop soul". According to journalist Elaine Welteroth, "Breakdown" compelled African Americans to begin thinking of Carey as Black.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the ''Butterfly'' liner notes.

* Mariah Carey – vocals, background vocals, composer, lyrics, producer
* 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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

Books

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1997 singles
1998 singles
Mariah Carey songs
Bone Thugs-n-Harmony songs
Music videos directed by Diane Martel
Music videos directed by Mariah Carey
Songs written by Mariah Carey
Songs written by Stevie J
1997 songs
Columbia Records singles
Sony Music singles
Songs about heartache
Songs written by Wish Bone
Songs written by Krayzie Bone
Contemporary R&B ballads
1990s ballads