# Don't Be Cruel (album)
*Don't Be Cruel* is the second solo studio album by American R&B singer [Bobby Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-brown), released on June 20, 1988 by [MCA Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/mca-records). Built on the then-emerging new jack swing sound, a fusion of R&B vocals with hip-hop beats and dance production, the album transformed Brown from a teen idol into a leading figure of late-1980s R&B, topped the [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) album chart, and was the highest selling album of 1989 in the United States.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-be-cruel/1440773569) • [2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist / release | Bobby Brown's second solo album, released June 20, 1988 on MCA Records[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-be-cruel/1440773569) |
| Length | 47:08 across the standard edition[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329) |
| Main producers | L.A. Reid and Babyface produced much of the album; "My Prerogative" was produced and co-written by Teddy Riley and Aaron Hall[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329) • [2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) |
| Chart performance | No. 1 on the Billboard album chart; five Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) |
| Sales | Highest selling album of 1989; about seven million copies sold in America in the decades since[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) • [4](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/) |
| Signature singles | "Don't Be Cruel," "My Prerogative," "Every Little Step," "Roni," and "Rock Wit'cha"[4](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/) |
| Genre | Contemporary R&B and new jack swing[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329) |
## Background
Brown had been a co-founding member of the popular R&B group [New Edition](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-edition) but left the group in December 1985, frustrated by his limited financial return and his lack of featured lead vocals. His solo debut, *King of Stage* (1987), produced the R&B chart-topping single "Girlfriend" but failed to gain lasting success, and Brown wanted his next album to outdo both it and New Edition's own records.[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music)
To make that break, he adopted the new jack swing style then taking shape in New York. The term had been coined in a 1987 Village Voice profile of producer [Teddy Riley](https://www.edgepedia.org/teddy-riley) by journalist Barry Cooper, describing a hybrid of R&B-style vocals with gospel-influenced harmonies sung over hip-hop, funk, and dance instrumentations. Brown embraced the sound and, with it, a "bad boy" persona that replaced the squeaky-clean image he had carried in New Edition.[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music)
The album was released on June 20, 1988, the same day as New Edition's fifth studio album, *Heart Break*.[5](https://www.shatterthestandards.com/p/the-intriguing-elevation-of-bobby)
## Production and sound
**Producers.** Much of the album was produced by the songwriting and production duo Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who were then rising stars in R&B. The title track was written by Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons, and was recorded at Silverlake Studios in Hollywood and mixed at Elumba Recording, also in Hollywood.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329) • [6](https://musicbrainz.org/release/164f0535-b954-41ff-a435-42364b0345fc) AllMusic lists recording locations across seven studios, including Axis Studios in New York, Cherokee Studios in Hollywood, and Different Fur Studios in San Francisco.[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329)
The album's biggest hit came from a different camp. "[My Prerogative](https://www.edgepedia.org/my-prerogative)" was produced and co-written by Teddy Riley, the producer most associated with new jack swing, together with [Aaron Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/aaron-hall-singer) of the group Guy.[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) Riley's contribution to the album is described by the retrospective site Albumism as largely uncredited, and the writer suggests that the track "I'll Be Good To You" also bears his stamp.[7](https://albumism.com/features/bobby-brown-dont-be-cruel-album-anniversary)
**Style.** The record pairs Brown's singing with hip-hop's rugged breakbeats, and Brown, a rap enthusiast since his New Edition days, raps more on it than he had before. The title track and "My Prerogative" carry a sneering, assertive attitude, while the slow jams "Roni" and "Rock Wit'cha" keep a sentimental, old-fashioned R&B romanticism beneath the modern production.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-be-cruel/1440773569) • [3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329) The standard CD opens with a short synth pastiche titled "(Cruel Prelude)" before the title track, and the title track itself runs to nearly seven minutes in its full version, edited down for single release.[8](https://poprescue.com/2015/01/28/pop-rescue-review-dont-cruel-bobby-brown-cd-1988/)
The recording process was, by Albumism's account, affected by Brown's absences as his drug dependence increased, though the behind-the-scenes trouble is not audible in the finished tracks.[7](https://albumism.com/features/bobby-brown-dont-be-cruel-album-anniversary)
## Commercial performance
The album was a runaway success. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and, through 1988 and 1989, produced five Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Don't Be Cruel," "My Prerogative," "Every Little Step," "Roni," and "Rock Wit'cha."[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) • [4](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/) "My Prerogative" became Brown's only No. 1 on the Hot 100, topping the chart dated January 14, 1989 for a single week, and finished as the second-biggest single of 1989.[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) • [9](https://stereogum.com/2150752/the-number-ones-bobby-browns-my-prerogative/columns/the-number-ones) • [4](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/)
When the year ended, *Don't Be Cruel* stood as 1989's biggest-selling album, and it went on to sell about seven million copies in the United States.[2](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music) • [4](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/) The Guardian later ranked the album's release, on June 20, 1988, among the 50 key events in the history of R&B and hip-hop, calling it the springboard to Brown's mainstream success and the record that cemented him as the R&B superstar of his day.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/bobby-brown-superstar)
## Legacy in new jack swing
[New jack swing](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-jack-swing) fused contemporary R&B vocal styles with hip-hop rhythms and dance-oriented production, and *Don't Be Cruel* is widely treated as the record that carried the style from the New York club scene to the pop mainstream. [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club)'s genre overview calls the title track and "My Prerogative" towering slabs of new jack swing and credits the album with putting the Reid-Babyface production team on the map.[11](https://www.avclub.com/new-jack-swing-1798222079) The music writer behind the Songbattle history of R&B puts it directly: in 1988 Brown's album made new jack swing "a pop-chart fact," with the Riley-produced "My Prerogative" hitting No. 1 in early 1989.[12](https://www.songbattle.co/blog/evolution-of-rnb)
AllMusic's review by Alex Henderson compares the album's effect on Brown's career to what *[Control](https://www.edgepedia.org/control-janet-jackson-album)* did for [Janet Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/janet-jackson): a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his bubblegum image and moved him to a new artistic and commercial plateau, making him a leader of the style alongside Guy and his former New Edition colleagues in [Bell Biv DeVoe](https://www.edgepedia.org/bell-biv-devoe).[3](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329) The bio service WMMO summarizes the same point from the hitmaking side: Riley may have been new jack swing's greatest innovator, but Brown was its greatest hitmaker, and the blockbuster album made the style the dominant trend in R&B through the early 1990s while helping launch the solo careers of his former bandmates.[13](https://www.wmmo.com/lsp/artist/bio/bobby-brown/)
The album's standing has lasted. MCA's parent catalog now offers an expanded edition of 28 songs on streaming services, and a deluxe reissue was announced for 2023.[1](https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-be-cruel/1440773569) • [4](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/) Brown marked the album's 35th anniversary with a celebration in Los Angeles, and coverage of the event described the record as having helped define modern R&B.[14](https://lasentinel.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/epapers/303391-1782334014.pdf)
## References
1. [Don't Be Cruel – Album by Bobby Brown, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/dont-be-cruel/1440773569)
2. ["That Bobby Brown Sound": A glance at New Jack Swing's influence on modern music, REVOLT](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2018-09-05/44452/that-bobby-brown-sound-a-glance-at-new-jack-swings-influence-on-modern-music)
3. [Bobby Brown: Don't Be Cruel Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-be-cruel-mw0000652329)
4. [On His Own: Bobby Brown's Breakthrough 'Don't Be Cruel' Set for Deluxe Edition at Iconoclassic, The Second Disc](https://theseconddisc.com/2023/04/27/on-his-own-bobby-browns-breakthrough-dont-be-cruel-set-for-deluxe-edition-at-iconoclassic/)
5. [The Intriguing Elevation of Bobby Brown: 35 Years of 'Don't Be Cruel', Shatter the Standards](https://www.shatterthestandards.com/p/the-intriguing-elevation-of-bobby)
6. [Release "Don't Be Cruel" by Bobby Brown, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/164f0535-b954-41ff-a435-42364b0345fc)
7. [Rediscover Bobby Brown's 'Don't Be Cruel' (1988), Albumism](https://albumism.com/features/bobby-brown-dont-be-cruel-album-anniversary)
8. [Review: "Don't Be Cruel" by Bobby Brown (CD, 1988), Pop Rescue](https://poprescue.com/2015/01/28/pop-rescue-review-dont-cruel-bobby-brown-cd-1988/)
9. [The Number Ones: Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative", Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2150752/the-number-ones-bobby-browns-my-prerogative/columns/the-number-ones)
10. [Bobby Brown becomes R&B's first superstar, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/13/bobby-brown-superstar)
11. [New jack swing, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/new-jack-swing-1798222079)
12. [The evolution of R&B: From new jack swing to alt-R&B, Songbattle](https://www.songbattle.co/blog/evolution-of-rnb)
13. [Bobby Brown biography, WMMO](https://www.wmmo.com/lsp/artist/bio/bobby-brown/)
14. [Bobby Brown Brings 'Don't Be Cruel' 35th Anniversary Celebration to Los Angeles, Los Angeles Sentinel](https://lasentinel.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/epapers/303391-1782334014.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › R&B and soul albums › 1980s and 1990s R&B albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license