# Breakin' Dishes

"Breakin' Dishes" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, from her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). The song was co-written by Christopher Stewart and The-Dream, with production completed by the former. The song received positive reviews from music critics, who agreed that the song was one of the highlights of the album. "Breakin' Dishes" also charted at number four on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart in both 2008 and 2009. The songs only live televised performance was at the Pepsi Smash Show Super Bowl game in 2009, and was also included on all three of Rihanna's arena tours; the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour (2007–08), Last Girl on Earth Tour (2009-10) and the Loud Tour (2011).

## Music and lyrics

"Breakin' Dishes" was written by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, with the former producing the song. The song appears as the fourth track on Good Girl Gone Bad. Lyrically, "Breakin' Dishes" is about "a downtrodden wife who exacts revenge on her cheating husband", according to Nick Levine of Digital Spy. According to the digital music sheet published by EMI Publishing, the song is written in the key of B minor and is set in common time with a moderate techno rock beat, with a metronome of 124 beats per minute. Rihanna's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of G$_3$ to the high note of C♯$_5$. Musically, "Breakin' Dishes" is piano and guitar driven, incorporating elements of R&B and dance-pop.

## Reception

The song received positive reviews from critics. Levine of Digital Spy called the song a "surefire smash" and "one of the album's standout tracks", arguing that it should have been granted a full release ahead of "Hate That I Love You" and "Take a Bow". Upon the release of Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2008), Levine criticized the choice of "Take a Bow" being released as the lead single to promote the re-release (one of three new songs on the re-release), commenting that "Breakin' Dishes" was more likely to be successful due to it previously having chart at number four on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart in February 2008. Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly described the song as an "appropriately frantic romp", with regard to the lyrics "Is he cheating?/Maybe, I don't know/I'm looking around for something else to throw", whilst Sarah McIntyre of Raidió Teilifís Éireann described the song as "ultra-sassy" and "aggressive", writing that the mood of the album changes once "Breakin' Dishes" plays, compared to the first three songs "Umbrella", "Push Up On Me" and "Don't Stop the Music". Sal Cinquemani of Slant magazine criticized the name of the song, as well as others from Good Girl Gone Bad, writing "Good Girl might have the most consistently hilarious song titles of the year ('Breakin' Dishes,' 'Shut Up And Drive,' 'Sell Me Candy,' just to name a few), but the songs themselves just don't live up to their campy names."

## Live performances

"Breakin' Dishes" only live televised performance was at the Pepsi Smash Show in January 2009. The set included previous singles from Good Girl Gone Bad, "Shut Up and Drive", "Disturbia" and "Rehab"; the set featured Rihanna wearing "an all-black outfit that was a mixture of bondage gear and a space-age hockey uniform [and] thigh-high boots" Rihanna started her performance with "Disturbia" and incorporated elements of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", which led into "Breakin' Dishes". After performing the song with backing dancers, who wore outfits that matched Rihanna's, the singer performed "Rehab" and "Shut Up And Drive". The song was also featured on the set of all three of Rihanna's arena tours; the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour (2007–09), Last Girl on Earth Tour (2010–11) and the Loud Tour (2011). "Breakin' Dishes" appeared as the fifth song on Canadian, North American and European legs of the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour, and the second song during the Asian and Oceanic legs. Sean Sennett The Australian described the song as a "highlight" of the concert. For the Last Girl on Earth Tour, the song appeared as the eighteenth song on the set list for the North American and Australian legs, but was performed as the twentieth song for the European and Asian legs. For the Loud Tour, "Breakin' Dishes" appeared as the eleventh song on the set list for all legs of the tour.

## Formats and track listings

* Album version (Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded)
* "Breakin' Dishes" – 3:20
* Album version (Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes)
* "Breakin' Dishes" (Soul Seekerz Remix) (Edit) – 3:19
* Album Version (Good Girl Gone Bad: Deluxe Edition)
* "Breakin' Dishes" (Soul Seekerz Remix) (Full Mix) – 6:04

## Credits and personnel

* Robyn Rihanna Fenty – Vocals
* Tricky Stewart – Songwriting, Production
* The-Dream – Songwriting
* Phil Tan – Mixing at Soapbox Studio, Atlanta, GA
* Joshua Houghkirk – Assistant mixer
* Judi Acosta-Stewart – Production manager
* Rebecca Sweatman – Production assistant
* Kuk Harrel – Vocal production, Recording at Triangle Sound, Atlanta, GA; Pacifique Recording Studio, Hollywood, CA and Westlake Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
* Mike Tocci – Recording at Westlake Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Good Girl Gone Bad.

## Charts

On February 9, 2008, "Breakin' Dishes" peaked at number four on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, where it remained for a further week. The song spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart in 2008. On May 30, 2009, the release of Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes caused the song to peak at number four on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and once again spent two weeks at the same position as it did the year before. "Breakin' Dishes" spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart in 2009, two weeks less than the previous year.
Weekly chart performance for "Breakin' Dishes" :
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs | 4 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs | 4 |
| Chart (2024–2025) | Peak position |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 72 |
| Germany (GfK) | 66 |
| Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) | 68 |