“How could you be so heartless?” (West 0:13)  ‘Heartless’ is a song written and performed by Kanye West from the 2008 album 808s and Heartbreak. This song describes the story of a man who got his heart broken by a ‘woman so heartless’ (West 0:10) This song, upon its release, revolutionized the hip hop genre in many different ways, such as influencing new artists, bringing a new sound to hip hop, and the timelessness of the song. When it was released on November 24 on Kanye’s 4th studio album, it instantly became a classic to many people. But what’s the real meaning behind the song, and why exactly did it become such a classic? 

Heartless is a song that reflects on the breakup between Kanye and fashion designer Alexis Phifer. It uses phrases such as ‘coldest story ever told’ (West 0:07) to reflect on how this breakup affected Kanye. The song is a pop-esque song with clear influences from genres like R&B and hip-hop, and itinfluenced many artists. Some artists still take inspiration from this song, such as rapper Lil Uzi Vert with his song, ‘Money Longer’, or rapper Baby Keem, stating in an interview that 808s and Heartbreak was one of his biggest influences to start rapping. 

Likewise, this song also revolutionized the sound of hip-hop. Hip-hop was very close, and still is, to the rap genre. After the release of this song (and the album in general), hip-hop songs with influences from pop were much more welcomed than before. Since its release, a lot of hip-hop songs were heavily influenced by pop, for example Teezo Touchdown’s debut album, How Do You Sleep At Night?

Heartless is an incredibly timeless song. As of September 14,  Heartless is 75th on spotify’s US charts, and 186th globally. Almost 15 years later, this song is still on the charts, and doesn’t show any signs of halting, as it’s been going up in popularity as of recently, due to the song being used on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram. This song has influenced hip hop in an incredible way, and it’s still influencing up and coming artists, and even some already established ones.

To summarize, Heartless is a song that many people love, and a song that many artists were influenced by. If not for this song and album, the hip hop genre could have been much different than it is today (with no pop influences, and not as upbeat as some recent hip hop tracks are) This song has revolutionized the genre of hip hop, and it questioned what hip hop really was, and how it could improve. Overall, Heartless has a place in the greats of hip hop, and it will forever be one of the staples of the genre.

Works Cited

Rebuli, Stefano. “Welcome to Heartbreak: THE LEGACY OF KANYE WEST’S “808S AND HEARTBREAK” The Plant, 19 Feb 2022,

theplantnews.com/post/welcome-to-heartbreak-the-legacy-of-kanye-west-s-808s-heartbreak#:~:text=Baby%20Keem%20is%20another%20artist,his%20favourite%20in%20Kanye's%20discography

     West, Kanye. “Heartless” Youtube, 24 November 2008,

      youtu.be/Co0tTeuUVhU?si=xU6ZETmMwBMtE5St