Heartbreaker (Mariah Carey song)
| "Heartbreaker" | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Mariahcareysingle heartbreaker.jpg | ||
| Single by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z | ||
| From the album Rainbow | ||
| Single Released | 1999 | |
| Single Format | CD Single CD Maxi Single Cassette Single 7" Single 12" Maxi Single | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Song Length | 4:46 | |
| Record label | Sony | |
| Writers | Mariah Carey Jay-Z Jeff Cohen Narada Michael Walden Shirley Elliston Lincoln Chase | |
| Producers | Mariah Carey DJ Clue | |
| Video Director (Album Version) |
Brett Ratner | |
| Video Director (Remix) |
Diane Martel | |
| Chart positions | #1 (USA) #5 (UK) | |
| Mariah Carey single chronology | ||
| "Do You Know Where You're Going To (Theme From Mahogany)" 1999 |
"Heartbreaker" 1999 |
"Thank God I Found You" 2000 |
"Heartbreaker" was the first single released from Mariah Carey's 9th album, Rainbow, released in November of 1999.
The Song
The original version of "Heartbreaker" is among one of Carey's most popular songs to date and was arguably her most popular song from the latter half of her career, prior to the massive success of "We Belong Together" recently. The single was co-written by Carey and is built around a sample of the Stacey Lattisaw song, "Attack Of The Name Game". The single was co-produced by Carey and DJ Clue and features a rap by Jay-Z. The song is self explanatory and features Carey lamenting over a man who has broken her heart.
By the late 1990s, Carey was beginning to receive criticism from fans, radio programmers, and industry insiders alike, many of whom had decried the more urban direction she had chosen to take her music in with her 1997 Butterfly album, essentially alientating many of her pop and adult contemporary fans in the process. Where urban-leaning releases from that album such as "Breakdown", "The Roof", and "Butterfly" were relative flops by Carey's standards, the more pop-oriented sound of "Heartbreaker" was seen by many as an attempt to win over her older fans again. However, many of Carey's former critics were now dismissing "Heartbreaker" for being too formulaic, and several noted that it shared striking similarities, in name as well as in melody and lyrical content, to many of her previous albums' debut singles: 1993's "Dreamlover" off of Music Box, 1995's "Fantasy" off of Daydream, and 1997's "Honey" off of Butterfly. People who closely followed the Billboard charts were also becoming irritated with what many of them viewed as manipulatative tactics that Carey and her record company had been using in order to amass Carey a slew of chart records. To these people, the poppy and formulaic "Heartbreaker" and its urban-leaning remix were simply crafted to ensure Carey continued chart success. Eventually, this notion caught on with American radio programmers as well as the general public, which is one of the reasons why Carey's next couple of solo albums flopped commercially, but not before "Heartbreaker" became a big hit.
Chart Success
"Heartbreaker" was one of Carey's last hits before "It's Like That" and "We Belong Together" broke big in 2005. "Heartbreaker" hit #1 in the USA, earning Carey a record-breaking 14th #1 pop hit and her first new #1 hit after her collection of all her previous number one hits, known as #1's, had been released a year earlier. The song was one of Carey's last bonafide hits until 2005, with strong receptions in both areas of radio airplay and commercial CD-single sales. It was one of the last singles in America to achieve platinum sales with the birth of the Napster/free mp3 craze in December of 1999. Signs of Carey's commercial decline were beginning to show though, as radio stats, although still impressive, were not as good as they had once been for Carey. Nevertheless, the song was an international hit, reaching #5 in the UK and #10 in Australia.
Music Video
The music video of the song, directed by Brett Ratner, ranks among one of Carey's most complicated and expensive videos, as it features all sorts of special frills and intricate choreography. An MTV special in year 2000 estimated "Heartbreaker" to be the third most-expensive video of all-time, costing over $2.5 million to make, less only than the costs of P. Diddy's "Victory" and Michael Jackson's "Scream". The video's concept is Carey's friends urging her to confront her cheating man, played by Jerry O'Connell, who is inside a movie theater, on a date with with Carey's alter ego, Bianca.
Initially, when the video was released, due to contractual reasons that he could only appear in a certain number of other artists' videos at a time, Jay-Z was not allowed to partake in the video. At the time, the Roc-a-Fella Records rapper was under the terms of a short-term exclusive deal with Epic Records, for which he recorded the single "Girl's Best Friend" for the Blue Streak soundtrack, and could not appear in any videos except that one. During the part of the song that Jay-Z raps, an animated sequence featuring cartoon versions of Carey and her friends was shown in lieu of Jay-Z. After the contract expired, a new scene, containing Jay-Z, appeared in the video in place of the animated scene. Jay-Z's scene paid homage to the bathtub sequence in Scarface. Other movie references in the video included a scene with Carey in a pillowfight as a homage to Grease and a catfight in a washroom between Carey and Bianca which channels the music and essence & spirit of Bruce Lee and his movie, Enter The Dragon.
Remixes: Heartbreaker (Remix)
"Heartbreaker" also features one of Mariah's most famous remixes, known simply as the "Heartbreaker" remix. Although the song structure is kept basically the same, Carey resings her vocals and a new sample is used; this time, Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun". The remix, also produced by Carey and DJ Clue (who introduces the remix), features rapped parts by Da Brat and Missy Elliott.
Remix Music Video
There was also a music video for the "Heartbreaker (Remix)", which seemed to cause minor controversy. The video shot entirely only in black and white features scenes deemed by Mariah to be innocent fun, but which have been deemed by many critics to be sexually suggestive. The scenes include Mariah having a jello catfight with Bianca, skating around in a skimpy bikini, and washing the car of Snoop Dogg (who makes a cameo appearance) suggestively. Besides Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliot, Da Brat, Mariah's alter ego - Bianca, and DJ Clue also make guest appearances.
Remixes: Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely
Besides the "Heartbreaker (Remix)" with Missy Elliot and Da Brat, dance remixes exist of the song as mixed by Junior Vasquez and are ranked among one of Mariah's best remixes. These remixes take a stand against the usual dance remix formula and actually also feature interpolations of the hit disco song, "If You Should Ever Be Lonely".
Remixes: Heartbreaker/Love Hangover
In early statements for the movie, Glitter, Mariah had declared that there would be yet another remix of "Heartbreaker" on the album. In lieu of it, however, Mariah performed yet another remix of "Heartbreaker", called "Heartbreaker/Love Hangover", on the VH1 2000 Divas Live Tribute to Diana Ross. The song, which was the only performance of it ever, features Mariah singing "Heartbreaker" over the background music of Diana Ross's "Love Hangover", along with "Love Hangover" itself and bits and pieces of Donna Summer's "Love To Love You, Baby".
Comprehensive Charts
"Heartbreaker" Debuted at #60 on The Billboard Hot 100
"Heartbreaker" Was Ranked #34 on The Billboard Hot 100 Year End Charts (1999)
"Heartbreaker" Remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for 20 weeks
"Heartbreaker" was Mariah's 14th #1 single on The Billboard Hot 100
"Heartbreaker" was Mariah's 8th #1 single on The Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales
"Heartbreaker" was Mariah's 6th #1 single on The Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
"Heartbreaker" was Mariah's 7th #1 single on The Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales
"Heartbreaker" was Mariah's 5th #1 single on The Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker” | Billboard Hot 100 | #1 (2 Weeks) |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | #1 (2 Weeks) |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | #8 |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | #1 (2 Weeks) |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales | #1 (2 Weeks) |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Airplay | #9 |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | #1 (8 Weeks) |
| 1999 | "Heartbreaker" | Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #2 |
Official Remixes/Versions List
Heartbreaker (Album Version) featuring Jay-Z
Heartbreaker (Radio Edit) featuring Jay-Z
Heartbreaker (No Rap Version)
Heartbreaker (Remix) featuring Missy Elliot and Da Brat
Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Junior's Club Mix)
Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Junior's Club Dub)
Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Junior's Hard Mix)
Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely (Junior's Hard Dub) (From 12" Vinyl Only)
Heartbreaker/Love Hangover (Live)