Heartbreaker (Mariah Carey song)

Name	Heartbreaker
Cover	Mariahcareysingle heartbreaker.jpg
Artist	Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z
From album	Rainbow
Released
Format	CD single, cassette single, 7" single, 12" single
Recorded	May—July 1999
Genre	R&B;, dance-pop, hip hop
Length	4:46
Label	Columbia
Writer	Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Jeff Cohen, Narada Michael Walden, Shirley Elliston, Lincoln Chase
Producer	Mariah Carey, DJ Clue, Mr Fingaz
Certification	Platinum (Australia, New Zealand)Gold (France, U.S.)
Artist	Mariah Carey
Type	single
Last single	"I Still Believe" (1999)
This single	"Heartbreaker" (1999)
Next single	"Thank God I Found You" (2000)

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"Heartbreaker" is a song recorded by American singer Mariah Carey for her seventh studio album, Rainbow (1999). Written by Carey, the track features a guest appearance from American rapper Jay-Z. The singer wrote the song, initially planning for it to be featured in a movie project. However, the project was postponed, making Carey include it on her then-upcoming album.

The track was released in 1999, as the album's lead single to mixed reviews from music critics. Nevertheless, it was another commercial success for Carey, reaching the top ten in most major markets, while achieving the top of the charts in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. In the United States, the song became Carey's 14th number 1 single and brought other new feats to her career. Its music video portrays a cinematic plot where the singer is shown as two different women. It is one of the most expensive ever made, with a cost of US$2,500,000 and remains as one of her fan favorites to date.

Background

After the release of her first compilation album, #1's (1998), Carey began to work on her seventh studio album, Rainbow (1999). According to her, the album took three months to be recorded and she spent most of that time working on its first single, "Heartbreaker". The song was originally intended for the soundtrack of Glitter—a movie project which had been in development for two years, in which she starred as the main character. Due to the fact the movie had been postponed, the singer decided to include it on her latest studio album because she "didn't want to wait on putting it out."

Produced by New York mixtape DJ Clue, it has a guest participation from rapper Jay-Z, who makes a featured rap over the song, with lines written by himself. In an interview with MTV News, Carey revealed her thoughts about the track:

"It's pretty much [in] the classic style of my up-tempo classics like 'Fantasy' or 'Dreamlover,' [...] But it's kind of fun and has a new edge to it, I think, and definitely having Jay-Z takes it to a whole 'nother level. And [DJ] Clue makes it really fun and stuff."

Composition

"Heartbreaker" is a moderately slow dance track, with hip-hop and R&B; influences. Written in the key of D♭ major, over which Carey sings with a nasal, silken and declarative voice.

"Hearbreaker" samples R&B;—dance singer Stacy Lattisaw's "Attack of the Name Game." The lyrics are constructed in the verse-pre-chorus-chorus form. Carey starts with the hook "Gimme your love, gimme your love," repeated eight times in a row. Its commercial release, however, only happened in the United States on September 21, 1999.

"Heartbreaker" received mixed reviews from music critics, although most of them agreed it was a good song. Some, however, pointed negatively at strong resemblances to Carey's previous releases. Arion Berger of Rolling Stone declared that the singer was at her most insinuating: "nasal, silken, declarative, riding the percolating beat," A negative review came from Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly, who said the song is a "rehash" of her 1995 hit "Fantasy". At the end, Billboard concluded: "Yes, it's a hit, and her voice is in fine form [...] radio will be eager to introduce audiences to the latest from one of the staple artists of the '90s, even if this single doesn't represent a creative step forward."

Jay-Z's guest appearance on the track, however, was received with favorable reviews. Jose Promis of Allmusic stated that his rap embellished it further, and added that it was "comical". Elysa Gardner of Los Angeles Times described it as a "sly rap". Arion Berger of Rolling Stone claimed he ran a "funny litany" of Carey's bad behavior on the song. while Billboard recognized that it had added to the song's radio appeal. However, when the song was commercially available, it sold 273,000 copies—the second biggest first-week sales of her career—and then achieved the summit of the chart. It was Carey's 14th number 1 single, and also her 59th week at the top of the chart with a single. When the track stayed another week at number-one, Carey surpassed rock and pop band The Beatles for the act with most total weeks spent at number-one, and with the song reaching number-one in 1999, the singer was also the only artist to have had a number-one single for every year of the 1990s. In the United Kingdom, "Heartbreaker" was Carey's ninth top five when it debuted at the fifth position, failing to reach a new peak in the following weeks. The single peaked inside the top ten in most others major markets, including Australia, France and the Netherlands. It spent two weeks at number two on the American dance club play chart.

Music video

version of Mariah Carey is Bianca, a woman who had stolen the "heartbreaker" boyfriend from another version of the singer, this time blonde.]] Directed by Brett Ratner, the song's music video was reported to be the 7th most expensive ever made, with a cost of U$2,500,000. Furthermore, it remains a fan favorite.

The music video puts the singer in two roles: an innocent and sweet blonde Carey and an "evil" brunette Carey, named Bianca. Located in a movie theater, the blonde Carey is convinced by her friends to catch her boyfriend (played by Jerry O'Connell) cheating on her, then discovering that he is in a date with the brunette Carey. When the blonde one tries to confront the brunette about stealing her boyfriend, the two end up with a catfight in the theater's bathroom inspired by 1973 American martial arts film Enter the Dragon. The version of "Heartbreaker" video, which included Jay-Z himself, premiered on the MTV show Making the Video on August 30, 1999.

Track listings

;U.S. CD single (667868 9) # "Heartbreaker" (Album Version) – 4:48 # "Heartbreaker" (Remix) – 4:37

;U.S. vinyl single (44 79261) (Released: September 21, 1999) # "Heartbreaker" (Album Version) – 4:48 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" – 4:37 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Club Mix) – 10:18 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" – 10:12 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Hard Mix) – 10:19

;U.S. maxi single (44K 79261) (Released: September 21, 1999) # "Heartbreaker" (Album Version) – 4:18 # "Heartbreaker" (Remix) – 4:36 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Club Mix) – 10:18 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Club Dub) – 10:11 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Hard Mix) – 10:20

;European 12" vinyl (COL 667868 6) Side A # "Heartbreaker" (Album Version) – 4:18 # "Heartbreaker" (Remix) – 4:36 Side B # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Club Mix) – 10:18 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior's Club Dub) – 10:11

;Australian/UK CD maxi-single (667899 2) (Released: September 21, 1999) # "Heartbreaker" (Album Version) – 4:18 # "Heartbreaker" (Remix) – 4:36 # "Heartbreaker" (No Rap Version) – 3:20 # "Heartbreaker/If You Should Ever Be Lonely" (Junior Heartbreaker Club Mix) – 10:14

Charts

Peak positions

{|class="wikitable sortable" !align="left"|Chart (1999) !align="center"|Peakposition |- |align="left"|Australian Singles Chart |align="center"|10 |- |align="left"|Austrian Singles Chart |align="center"|17 |- |align="left"|Belgian Flandres Singles Chart |align="center"|27 |- |align="left"|Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart |align="center"|9 |- |align="left"|Canadian Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |align="left"|Dutch Singles Chart |align="center"|7 |- |align="left"|European Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |align="left"|French Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |align="left"|German Singles Chart |align="center"|9 |- |align="left"|Irish Singles Chart |align="center"|19 |- |align="left"|Japanese Singles Chart |align="center"|37 |- |align="left"|New Zealand Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |align="left"|Norwegian Singles Chart |align="center"|14 |- |align="left"|Spanish Singles Chart |align="center"|1 |- |align="left"|Swedish Singles Chart |align="center"|18 |- |align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart |align="center"|7 |- |align="left"|UK Singles Chart |align="center"|5 |- |align="left"|U.S. Billboard Hot 100 |align="center"|1 |- |align="left"|U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play |align="center"|35 |- |}

Sales and certifications

References

Category:1999 singles Category:Mariah Carey songs Category:Jay-Z songs Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Category:Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs number-one singles Category:Canadian Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Dance-pop songs Category:Music videos directed by Brett Ratner Category:Music videos directed by Diane Martel Category:Songs written by Mariah Carey Category:Songs written by Jay-Z