Art breakdown

Art breakdown is a colloquial term within The Smashing Pumpkins that refers to anytime frontman Billy Corgan improvises abrasive speech or otherwise provokes the crowd at live shows, whether it be musically or verbally. The most famous of these is the so-called "I Am One" rant which was regularly heard during the Rock Invasion tour and Lollapalooza 1994.

In episode 3 of the Thirty-Three podcast, Corgan retold a story of an "I Am One" art breakdown at a Lollapalooza date where he was "offending about 30,000 people in the crowd." He looked back to see Jimmy Chamberlin pacing back and forth behind the drum kit smoking a cigarette and shaking his head in disappointment.