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 of 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.

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

• Producers: Babyface, Bobby Brown, Gene Griffin, Gordon Jones, Larry White
• Mixing: Larry White, Teddy Riley, Dennis Mitchell, Jon Gass, Michael Denton, Babyface
• Engineering: Babyface, Michael Denton, Jon Gass, Mitch Gibson, John Guggenheim, Fred Howard, Howard Johnston, K2, Ruben Laxamana, Dennis Mitchell, Mark Slagle, Larry White
• Mastering: Steve Hall

Credits

• Drums, Percussion: Richard Aguon, Dewayne Sweet, Larry White
• Drum Programming: Markell Riley
• Bass: Kirk Crumpler, Larry White
• Synthesized Bass: Dewayne Sweet, Kirk Crumpler
• Keyboards: Larry White, Dewayne Sweet, Percy Scott, Teddy Riley, Ben Rayes, Kirk Crumpler
• Guitars: Larry White, Emilio Conesa
• Saxophone: Melecio Magdaluyo
• Finger Snaps: Tommy Brown

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1989	The Billboard 200	1

Later Samples

• "Every Little Step"
  • "If You Must" by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien from the album Both Sides of the Brain (uncredited)

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

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1988 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1989 (U.S.)
• List of number-one albums of 1989 (U.S.)
• Billboard Year-End