Don't Be Cruel (album)

Don't Be Cruel
Studio album by Bobby Brown
Released June 20, 1988
Recorded October 1987–April 1988
Genre R&B, dance-pop, new jack swing
Length 47:08
Label MCA
Producer L. A. Reid and Babyface
Bobby Brown chronology
King of Stage
(1986)		 Don't Be Cruel
(1988)		 Dance!...Ya Know It!
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau (B+)[2]
Spin (favorable)[3]

Don't Be Cruel is the second album by American R&B singer Bobby Brown, released in 1988 on MCA Records. It includes four hit singles "Don't Be Cruel", "My Prerogative", "Roni" and "Every Little Step." All were #1 R&B singles except "Roni," which peaked at #2, while "My Prerogative" became Brown's highest charting single at #1 on the Hot 100.

Don't Be Cruel went to #1 on both the R&B and Pop charts as an album; it first topped the R&B Albums chart for 11 nonconsecutive weeks starting in 1988, then peaked on the Pop Album chart for three weeks the year after. It was the best-selling album in 1989 on the Billboard Year-End Pop Album Chart and eventually went seven times Platinum. The album is the 33rd best-selling album of the 1980s, with sales already at 5 million copies by September 1989.[4] Don't Be Cruel was the best selling "New Jack Swing" album at the time until Michael Jackson's 1991 album "Dangerous" was released. Bobby Brown won the grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1990. Brown followed the release of his album with a 120-date world tour.

"Don't Be Cruel" appeared in popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional New Jack Swing radio station CSR 103.9. My Prerogative was later covered by Britney Spears in 2004 on her Greatest Hits: My Prerogative album, and released as a single.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Cruel Prelude" – 0:39
  2. "Don't Be Cruel" – 6:52 (#8 U.S.) (Babyface/Reid/Simmons)
  3. "My Prerogative" – 4:51 (#1 U.S.) (Brown/Griffin)
  4. "Roni" – 5:58 (#3 U.S.)(Babyface/Darnell Bristol)
  5. "Rock Wit'cha" – 4:49 (#7 U.S.) (Babyface/Reid)
  6. "Every Little Step" – 3:57 (#3 U.S.) (Babyface/Reid)
  7. "I'll Be Good to You" – 4:25 (Brown/Griffin)
  8. "Take It Slow" – 5:22 (Logan/Peters/White)
  9. "All Day All Night" – 4:40 (Peters/Sweet/Wadington/White)
  10. "I Really Love You Girl" – 5:11 (Brown/Jones)
  11. "Cruel Reprise" – 0:18

Production

Credits

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1989 The Billboard 200 1

Later Samples

References

  1. ^ Henderson, Alex (November 1, 2001). "Don't Be Cruel - Bobby Brown: Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-r2697/review. Retrieved 2011-07-28. 
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (January 24, 1989). "Consumer Guide Jan. 24, 1989". The Village Voice (Village Voice Media). http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv189-89.php. Retrieved 2011-07-28. 
  3. ^ Eddy, Chuck (March 2011). "Essentials: R&B Rubs Hip-Hop the Right Way and the New Jack Swing Era Is Born". Spin (SPIN Media LLC) 27 (2): 84. http://books.google.com/books?id=w4YEDEZVVCEC&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-07-28. 
  4. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/03/arts/pop-view-if-there-s-a-nostalgia-boom-the-charts-don-t-show-it.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm
Preceded by
Giving You The Best That I Got by Anita Baker		 Billboard 200 number-one album
January 21 - February 10, 1989
February 18 - March 10, 1989		 Succeeded by
Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson

See also

Bobby Brown
Albums
Singles
"Girlfriend"  · "Girl Next Door"  · "Don't Be Cruel"  · "My Prerogative"  · "Roni"  · "Every Little Step"  · "On Our Own"  · "Rock Wit'cha"  · "Every Little Hit Mix"  · "Humpin' Around"  · "Good Enough"  · "That's the Way Love Is"  · "Something in Common"  · "Two Can Play That Game"  · "Feelin' Inside"
Featured artist
Related articles
Billboard Year-End number one albums (1970–1989)
  • Complete list
  • (1956–1969)
  • (1970–1989)
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