Don't Be Cruel is the second studio album by American singer Bobby Brown.

MCA changed producers for this album and had Brown work with hit-making songwriting and production duo Babyface and L.A. Reid.

Internationally, it reached number one in Ireland and the top five in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

[7] The album received a 2-CD deluxe edition release commemorating its 35th anniversary on June 16, 2023 by Iconoclassic Records.

[9] Brown changed producers for this album, and worked extensively with hit-making songwriting and production duo Babyface and L.A. Reid.

Alex Henderson of AllMusic writes: Don't Be Cruel was to Bobby Brown what Control was to Janet Jackson – a tougher, more aggressive project that shed his "bubblegum" image altogether and brought him to a new artistic and commercial plateau.

With "My Prerogative" and the title song, Brown became a leader of new jack swing – a forceful, high-tech blend of traditional soul singing and rap/hip-hop that's also associated with Guy and Brown's New Edition colleagues, Bell Biv DeVoe.