Album: Butterfly (Columbia; 1998)
Songwriters: Mariah Carey, Anthony Henderson, Stanley Howse, Stevie Jordan and Charles Scruggs
Peak Position: #4
The "Fantasy (Remix)" might stand as Mariah Carey's greatest hip-pop confection, but when it comes to her best marriage of urban-soul and rap, that honor should be bestowed on "Breakdown", a typically overlooked gem from Carey's 1998 "bye bye marriage"/ "hello bootie shorts" LP Butterfly that found her trading vocal melodies with Grammy-winning Cleveland rap collective Bone Thugs N Harmony.
Once again her collaboration choices were questionable (could you imagine the diva rocking E. 1999 Eternal in her CD collection?), but Mariah was definitely on to something, recognizing that the combination of Bone's intricate four-part harmonies and her eight octave vocal histrionics could result in a highlight musical moment for her.
She was right.
Sublimely produced by Mariah alongside Puffy and one of his top Hitmen Stevie J., "Breakdown" continued Carey's journey into heavier R&B/ hip hop sounds with it's massive chord drops and typewriter-esque drum track evoking a shadowy hue of gloom-filled days and teary-eyed nights (The track slightly favored the funeral stalk of Bone's "Crossroads"). Why the depressing mood? Carey's boyfriend has just revealed to her that he's "just not in love" with her. To his face and to her friends, she feigns understanding ("Immediately/ I pretended to be/ Feeling similarly/ And led you to believe it was okay..."), but beneath her smiling facade his confession has completely shattered her, leaving her to spend many sleepless nights alone trying to figure out what she's supposed to do next ("Do you cling to your pride?/ And sing 'I Will Survive'/ Do you lash out and say/ 'How dare you leave this way?'/ Do you hold on in vain as they just slip away?").
Fluidly intertwining their singsong chants with her sulking coos, Bone spend most of the record instigating Mariah's situation ("Break-breakdown", they hauntingly taunt) before deciding on aiding her out of her funk with some inspiring thug comfort. "It'll break you down only if you let it/ Everday crazy situations rocking my mind/ Tryin' to break me down/ But I won't let it/
Forget it," Wish offers. "Yeah, I can feel pressures ya'll/ But never the less Krayzie won't fall/ It's over, it's ending here," raps Krayzie.
Quite a different look for the previously squeaky clean pop princess, "Breakdown" presented a dark edge that Carey had rarely, if ever, showcased in her music. Released as a double A-side with "My All" to simultaneously target both her mainstream pop fans and more urban-favoring followers, the record didn't get the most airplay attention out of the two, but earned great respect as one of the better recordings of her career. Interestingly, it would also influence a new era of female R&B in which breathy, rapid-fire vocals and more equally-complimenting singer/ rapper partnerships became the norm.
Best Moment: The song's high-note-heavy climax where Carey unleashes a vocal "breakdown" of Academy Award-sized proportion (3:11)
No comments:
Post a Comment