of "Breakdown" marked the first time she collaborated with rappers 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 rap verses 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 Butterflys 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