Background and Critical Reception
The single so far has received positive reviews. Billboard gave it a positive review saying, "Philly newcomer Jazmine Sullivan is the first female in two years to top Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with a debut—"Need U Bad"—not to mention No. 1 R&B album "Fearless." Theatrical yet believable, the 22-year-old follows with the midtempo "Bust Your Windows," emoting one of the most challenging vocals from a female R&B artist this year. Sullivan's husky voice floats effortlessly over an eerie underlining violin score, originating from a sample of producer Salaam Remi's composition "Bad Man Waltz." With two Billboard Hot 100 singles on the charts (and climbing), the prime-time drama that is Sullivan's music deserves to have a second season picked up. She's on fire and set to become one of the heralded new acts of the year." It features a part from Inglesina.
Slant Magazine also had a very positive reaction saying that: "The R&B answer to Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats," Sullivan's current single, "Bust Your Windows," finds the singer following the American Idol winner's lead by taking a crowbar to her ex's car, but where Underwood's song scans like a pipedream, Sullivan exposes the reality beneath the revenge fantasy: "Oh, but why am I the one who's still crying?" Salaam Remi, who produced part of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, contributes to the song's emotional weight with ominous, noir-style string samples—which, it should be noted, are taken from his own extensive oeuvre and used throughout Fearless." This song was number 58 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.
With "Bust Your Windows" finally attaining a belated UK release on September 7, 2009, meanwhile, noted R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning 'Blues & Soul' described it as a "Flamenco-flavoured, controversial woman's anthem".
The song interpolates the lyric "Now watch me you" from Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's signature song "Crank That (Soulja Boy)". The song features Jazmine on both lead and backing vocals. "Bust Your Windows" was also nominated in the Best R&B Song category for 2009's Grammy Awards Epinions reviewed the song:
It's the first hip-hop/R&B song set to a tango backdrop and it fits it perfectly. She slowly builds up a story of breaking the windows out of the car of her ex, who she caught with another woman. She realizes that what she's doing is wrong, that the relief from the pain she feels will be fast and fleeting, but one thing is for certain: a woman scorned, especially this one, is not to be messed with. The musical layers are deceptively intricate, with a unison string/woodwind line that continually evolves throughout the song and a very simple vocal harmony mix that moves into a call and response against Jazmine's pleas. Neither the facets scream for attention but repeated listens bear out just how well they framed this song.
Read more about this topic: Bust Your Windows
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