Heartless (Kanye West song)
"Heartless" is a song by American rapper and record producer Kanye West from his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). The song was written by West, No I.D., Kid Cudi and Malik Yusef, while being produced by the former two. It was passed on to West during recording sessions, after originally being intended for inclusion on Jay-Z's eleventh studio album, The Blueprint 3 (2009). Following the song's debut at the 2008 Democratic National Convention (DNC), West shared an unmastered version via his blog on October 15, 2008. The song was later serviced to US rhythmic contemporary radio stations as the second single from 808s & Heartbreak on October 28, through Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam. A pop ballad with influences of hip hop and R&B, it features synthesizers.
"Heartless"
October 28, 2008
2008
- Glenwood (Burbank, California)
- Avex Recording (Honolulu, Hawaii)
3:31
- Kanye West
- Ernest Wilson
- Scott Mescudi
- Malik Jones
- Kanye West
- No I.D.
In the lyrics of the song, West reflects on his break-up with Alexis Phifer. "Heartless" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly complimented West's performance. Some placed emphasis on the song's subject matter, while other critics praised the composition. At the 2010 BMI Pop Awards, it stood among the Award Winning Songs. The song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. It further attained top 10 positions in Canada, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Having been certified septuple platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the song stands as one of the highest certified digital singles in the US. It has also received platinum certifications in Australia, Denmark, and the UK by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), IFPI Danmark, and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively.
The song's music video, released on November 7, 2008, is a tribute to Ralph Bakshi's 1981 film American Pop. The video is animated, with it showcasing West expressing sadness over breaking up with Phifer. Critics gave the video favorable reviews, generally praising the animation. At the 2009 BET Awards, it received a nomination for the Video of the Year award. West performed "Heartless" at the 36th Annual American Music Awards and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2008 and 2011, respectively.
"Heartless" has been subject to cover versions by various artists, including the Fray. The band debuted their cover on the Live Lounge for BBC Radio 1 in February 2009, before it was released as a single on April 17. A pop rock ballad, the cover reworks the original. The cover received mixed to positive responses from critics, some of whom praised the musical direction. It charted at number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100. An accompanying music video was released on August 18, 2009, which shows moving doodles that appear from a boy's notebook. Kris Allen also covered the song, premiering his version in May 2009 with a performance for season eight of American Idol, which he was the winner of. The performance gathered strong verdicts from the judges, including Simon Cowell. The cover was released as a single in May 2009, and it charted at number 16 on the Hot 100.
Composition and lyrics[edit]
Musically, "Heartless" is an upbeat pop ballad,[17][18][19] with hip hop and R&B influences.[20][21] According to the sheet music on Musicnotes.com, the song is set in the time signature of common time. It is composed in the key of B-flat minor with a moderate R&B tempo of 88 beats per minute and West's vocal range varies from a low of G♯2 to a high of F♯4.[22] The structure of the song is constructed around percussion, while synthesizers are prominently featured.[20][21][23] The song includes the Roland TR-808 and piano stabs, the latter of which were contributed by Ken Lewis.[2][24][25] Organs accompany the chorus, whereas keyboards appear in the background of the verses, played by West collaborator Jeff Bhasker.[2][12][21] The song also contains a bassline, as well as Auto-Tuned melodies.[24][25] West sings in Auto-Tune throughout, with him heavily utilizing the effect on the chorus.[8][20][21] The song also includes rapping from West briefly.[12][21][26]
Lyrically, "Heartless" features West's forceful and direct reflection on breaking up with his ex-fiancé Alexis Phifer.[20][27][28] He expresses honesty and self-pity on the chorus: "The coldest story ever told / Somewhere far along this road / He lost his soul / To a woman so heartless".[21][29] West also asks a question angrily twice before the chorus finishes: "How could you be so heartless?"[21] Self-doubt is expressed on the song by West, who raps that despite having "homies", he is ultimately "still so lonely".[26] West goes on to shed light on the post-breakup phase, assuming that Phifer will realize she is never going to find anybody better than him after two months.[30]
Music video[edit]
Background[edit]
An accompanying music video was directed and produced by Hype Williams,[31] being set as a homage to Ralph Bakshi's film American Pop (1981);[49][50][51] West admitted that inspiration was taken from the film after Williams showed it to him.[52] For the video, Williams shot the footage of West prior to the technique of rotoscoped animation being utilized.[51][53] The technique included 65 animators in Hong Kong drawing over every cell, after real people were filmed.[52] West and Williams developed the video concept, while editorial and post-production house Chomet and visual effects company handled post-production, Stephan Zlotescu served as Art Director/VFX Supervisor, and Vlad Caprini was the Project Coordinator.
Michael Chomet explained that Williams approached the post-production house "with an almost impossible challenge: after picture-lock we had 10 days to deliver the goods". He emphasized the challenge as "a daunting task" that over 3,000 frames of hand-drawn animation and backgrounds were utilized for, though said that they managed "to pull it off in a record of 10 days working around the clock" with assistance from "a very talented team". Williams expressed his position for the video, asserting that he and West desired "to do something ... that was unexpected" and said they "needed a visual effects team that would deliver in terms of style, quality, and timing". He finalized by recalling having "worked with Stephan and Michael before", believing "that we could depend on them to pull it off".[53] During his appearance at the 2008 American Music Awards, West premiered footage from the visual.[53] The music video was released on November 7, 2008.[54]
Synopsis[edit]
Throughout the animated music video, West expressing grief about his break-up with Phifer is interspersed with scenes of various women. The women are rotoscoped over West at times, with them having been drawn on top of the footage by hand.[51][53] West wanders around a city while backed by the night sky at first, before he sits in a car's back seat. At one point, a portrait of Andy Warhol's artwork Campbell's Soup Cans is displayed.[55] The locations that West appears in during the video are highly stylized, including a Miami street scene and a space-age version of Times Square.[53] He briefly breaks his character, smoking a cigarette.[55] At the end, West demonstrates frustration in an apartment while portraits of animated sitcom The Jetsons can be seen in the background.[51]
Reception[edit]
The music video was well received by critics. Scratch from XXL said West hired "Hype 'Big Budget' Williams to draw upon ... Rotoscoping to keep our eyes glued to the screen", finalizing that the video is "an amazing work of art" and deservant of being "experienced on a big screen" while shining disappointment on West and Def Jam having "few outlets and opportunities for people to actually see [it]".[56] Cesar Cueva of Art of the Cartoon felt both surprised and pleasured about the music video being animated, revealing himself to have instantly found the rotoscope style impressive.[51] Cueva further wrote that after sensing a homage "to something I had seen before" with the video and having this confirmed by West citing inspiration from American Pop, he appreciated it more, and praised the sitcom portraits.[51] For the Miami New Times, Jonathan Cunningham affirmed that the video "isn't bad" and he "can't complain about [West and Williams'] choice to go with an animated look rather than the standard video route", concluding by suggesting it is "mind-numbing entertainment to get you through the last day of the week".[54] Larry Fitzmaurice of Vice named the visual a "Great video", viewing it as "no exception" to West's "cool-ass-looking videos" from the 808s & Heartbreak period and "a trippy cel-shaded experience stuffed with pop art and pop culture references" that was released simultaneously with West becoming "inextricably enmeshed in pop culture's DNA".[57]
The visual was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2009 BET Awards, ultimately losing to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)".[58] The former received a nomination for International Video Of The Year – Artist at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards, as well as being nominated for the awards of Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Male Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards Japan.[59][60] In 2012, the clip was listed by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest animated music videos of all time.[49] Complex named the music video as West's 16th best six years later, directing praise towards the rotoscoping for making the cartoons "surprisingly lifelike in their motions".[55]
Appearances in media[edit]
The fifth episode of the thirteenth season of the American television series South Park, titled "Fishsticks", aired on April 8, 2009.[117] In the episode, the character Jimmy comes to realize that "fish sticks" sounds very similar to "fish dicks", birthing a joke involving telling other characters they are a "gay fish". Though main character Cartman attempts to take credit for the joke, a computer generated version of West fails to understand it at first. He eventually accepts himself to be a "gay fish", diving underwater and singing an Auto-Tuned parody of "Heartless" titled after the joke's main line.[117][118] The day after its premiere, West responded to the episode via his blog, admitting South Park "murdered me last night" and it is "pretty funny". West blogged about his feelings being hurt but expected this from the show, also expressing thankfulness and confessing that if he continues to act as he has done, he will be subject to more of this type of content.[119] The song was featured in video games Lips: Number One Hits,[120] and DJ Hero 2.[121]
Christine and the Queens released a cover version of Christophe's "Les Paradis perdus" (1973) in October 2015 under the title of "Paradis perdus", which interpolates the chorus of "Heartless".[122] In August 2016, West's wife Kim Kardashian included "Heartless" on a playlist of her 28 favorite songs from him.[123] Lil Durk released a music video for his track "Kanye Krazy" on January 29, 2021, which includes him recreating the song's visual.[124] In early 2022, Romanian singer and songwriter Sorana and French disc jockey David Guetta released "Redrum", which interpolated "Heartless".[125]
Information taken from 808s & Heartbreak liner notes.[2]
Recording
Personnel