| Be Careful | |
| Cover: | Becarefulsparkle.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Sparkle featuring R. Kelly |
| Album: | Sparkle |
| Length: | 5:17 |
| Label: |
|
| Producer: | R. Kelly |
| Chronology: | Sparkle |
| Next Title: | Time to Move On |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
"Be Careful" is a song by American singer Sparkle from her 1998 debut album, Sparkle. The song reached number three on the US Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Airplay chart; it was ineligible to appear on the Hot R&B Singles and Hot 100 charts at the time because it was not released as a commercial single in the US. Internationally, "Be Careful" reached number four in the Netherlands and number seven in the United Kingdom.
The video, directed by Kelly, also features Kelly who wrote, produced, and composed this song. The single and the video were released before R. Kelly's single "When a Woman's Fed Up", which is the continuation of the story. Five weeks after the song was released it had already been played on the radio more than 40 million times in the US. Due to a Billboard rule, the song could not chart on the regular Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in America. The music video is directed by R. Kelly.[1] The video shows an African-American family that's struggling.
European CD single
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[3] | 36 | |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[4] | 33 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[5] | 180 | |
| US Hot R&B Airplay (Billboard)[6] | 17 | |
| US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)[7] | 33 |
| Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | April 28, 1998 | Rhythmic contemporary radio | [8] | ||
| June 9, 1998 | Contemporary hit radio | [9] | |||
| United Kingdom | July 6, 1998 | [10] |