"Breakdown" and "Babydoll" were perhaps Butterfly's backbone, its real declaration of independence. "Honey" stood at one extreme, while some of the ballads stood at the other. Pure R&B, these songs occupied the middle ground. "Breakdown" saw Puffy and Mariah behind the boards again, with guest raps from Wish Bone and Krayzie Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, who also helped out with the backgrounds. Like "Honey", "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.

"Breakdown" was the third single of the album and released in February 1998. It was first released in Australia and only later in the USA (as double a-side, together with "My all"). In Europe, on the other hand, "The roof" was released as a single. Mariah about "Breakdown": "I told Thugs-N-Harmony I wanted to record something with them. Their reaction was something like 'OK...'. I think I shock people with the ideas I have, but I believe the result is ok. You know you keep working on, so you don't realise you're breaking down, because you are so fixed on the thing you're working on. That's what this song is about."

CD-SINGLES

5" CD-single from Australia (1252) SAMP1033 promo collection Elin Sørhaug Tracklisting: 1. Breakdown (Special Radio Version)

5" CD-single from Australia (0098) 665531 2 collection Eric de Ridder Tracklisting: 1. Breakdown (Radio Edit featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 2. Breakdown (The Mo' Thugs Remix featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) 3. Breakdown (Album Version featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 4. Honey (Morales Club Dub) 5. Honey (Mo' Honey Dub)

5" CD-single from Australia (1170) 665531 2 Tracklisting: 1. Breakdown (Radio Edit featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 2. Breakdown (The Mo' Thugs Remix featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) 3. Breakdown (Album Version featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 4. Honey (Morales Club Dub) 5. Honey (Mo' Honey Dub) This item is the same as 0098, but on the front cover the title is missing, and on the back cover the text is different.

5" CD-single from the USA (1169) CSK 3996 promo Tracklisting: 1. Breakdown (The Mo' Thugs Remix featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) 2. Breakdown (Radio Edit featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 3. Breakdown (Album Version featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone)

CASSETTE SINGLES

cassette single from Australia (0755) 665531 8 collection Eric de Ridder Tracklisting: 1. Breakdown (Radio Edit featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 2. Breakdown (The Mo' Thugs Remix featuring Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) 3. Breakdown (Album Version featuring Krayzie Bone & Wish Bone) 4. Honey (Morales Club Dub) 5. Honey (Mo' Honey Dub)

VIDEO SINGLES

video single from Australia (1943) no catalogue number promo collection Sharon Zagame Tracklisting: 1. Breakdown