Breakdown

"Breakdown" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her sixth studio album, Butterfly. It was released as the third single from the album on March 24, 1998 by Columbia Records. Like "Butterfly", "Breakdown" received a limited worldwide release due to Carey's conflict at the time with Columbia. The song was written and produced by Carey, Stevie J and Puff Daddy, and features rap verses by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. 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. In the 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. Carey performed the song live during select dates of her Butterfly World Tour in 1998 and Adventures of Mimi Tour in 2006. Due to the songs 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 US, 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 Chart. 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" and wrote "It's the song of Carey's career, where the lyrical strokes are 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." It was released as the album's third single in 1998 in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia only (in Europe, "The Roof" was chosen as the third single instead). Because of conflict between Carey and her record label at the time, Sony Music Entertainment, it was only given a commercial release in Australia, where it performed modestly and remained in the top 40 for three weeks. A remix of the song was promoted to U.S. radio stations and debuted on Billboard magazine's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in October 1997. However, it wasn't released commercially in the U.S. until April 1998, as a double A-side with "My All". It reached the top five on the Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as "My All"/"Breakdown". However, the song itself independently appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart and reached the top twenty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay Chart charts. In New Zealand, the song performed well, peaking at number four and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), denoting shipments of over 7,500 units. (wiki)