Carey writes in the booklet of her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (2009), that she considers Butterfly her magnum opus and a turning point in both her life and career.

To promote the album, Carey embarked on the Butterfly World Tour, which visited Australia, Japan and Taiwan, with one show in the United States.

It was certified five-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States and received the Million Award in Japan.

[2] Throughout the development of the album, in a departure from her previous style, Carey worked with various rappers and hip hop producers, including Sean "Puffy" Combs, Q-Tip, Missy Elliott and Jean Claude Oliver and Samuel Barnes from Trackmasters.

Growing creative differences with producer Walter Afanasieff ended their working relationship, after collaborating on most of Carey's previous output.

The track was very different from Carey's previous recordings, and was described by author Chris Nickson as "street Hip-Hop music, with a booming bass.

[14][15] Carey solely wrote the lyrics while Afanasieff, who composed the music with Dan Shea, handled the song's instrumentals, and added a few personal R&B touches.

[13] "The Roof", Butterfly's European single, incorporated fragments from Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones (Part II)", and was produced by Carey, Poke & Tone and Cory Rooney.

The track was recorded in Atlanta, where Elliott resided, and included background vocals from Carey's long-time friend, Trey Lorenz.

"Babydoll" is an R&B ballad with trip hop and drum and bass influences, and was described as "a vocally driven piece", with strong jazz harmony provided by Cory Rooney.

[17] Richard Harrington from The Washington Post described the album's subtle inclusion of both pop and R&B genres: There are two Mariah Careys on Butterfly.

[13] She made two appearances on The Rosie O'Donnell Show; she performed "My All" and on her return visit, sang "Close My Eyes" live for the first time.

The tour included eleven shows, four in Japan's largest stadium, Tokyo Dome, one in Taiwan, five in Australia and one in the United States.

[25] Aside from the US, "Breakdown" achieved a steady peak of number four on the New Zealand singles chart, in addition to entering the top forty in Australia.

[12] In his review for the album, Rich Juzwiak from Slant magazine wrote the following: The song of Carey's career, where the lyrical strokes are as broad and obvious as they are naked.

Mariah the chanter flawlessly adapts to their singsong style, largely boxing her multi-octave range into a sly, hypnotic melody so that when she really wails at the end, you really feel it.

Additionally he wrote, "Since Carey writes her own lyrics, fans might expect a glimpse of marital discord or pride in her new-found autonomy.

"[30] In a retrospective review of the album, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic appreciated the new direction of Carey's music, commenting on the increased urban feel of the work.

[24] Rich Juzwiak from Slant Magazine awarded the album a score of four and a half out of five stars, calling it "elegant" and praising Carey's mature vocals.

Of Carey's vocals, he wrote, "The relatively high and thin register that she sings in when not belting (and that's often) could be the most important of Butterfly's changes, as it marks the first time that Mariah the vocalist seems consistently real.

[25][44] Butterfly debuted at number one in Australia, and received a double-platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), 140,000 units.

Alan Jones of Music Week described this as unexpectedly low given that Daydream had previously debuted at number one based on three-day sales.

[56] Writing for Jezebel, Rich Juzwiak focused on the influence of Carey's vocal stylings in the track "Breakdown", remarking that "in this day and age, when there’s so much genre blending that it’s sometimes impossible to label an artist as merely “singer” or “rapper,” it'd be foolish to understate the prescience of" the song.

[58] The music video gained further attention, as Carey, for the first time in her career, was provocatively dressed, giving viewers a "taste of the freer Mariah.

[58] Featuring a James Bond theme, Carey was a "very sexy agent M", in the words of Nickson, who escapes a large mansion in which she has been held captive.

[59] Sal Ciquemani, from Slant, gave the video a positive review, complimenting Carey's pairing the sultry song with a "sophisticated tale of a sexy rooftop encounter.

"[59] In the conclusion of his review of the video, Ciquemani wrote: "When Carey rises through the limo's sunroof and relishes the warm November rain, she's not drunk on the bubbly but on the memory of past delights.

[58] The video featured Carey in various places, including a submerged vessel, a lighthouse and a large conch shell floating the shore.

"[58] According to author Chris Nickson, the scenes of Carey on the overturned vessel showed her vulnerability without her loved one, truly emphasizing the yearning featured in the song.

According to author Marc Shapiro, "No amount of awards could replace the popular acceptance of Butterfly and the feeling she was now free to live her own life – creatively and personally.