Rainbow was Mariah Carey's final studio album of original material for Columbia, her label home since her debut in 1990. "In all honesty, it was like I have one more album here and I want to move on, because my personal life had changed. It was difficult for me to still be in the system, but it was a great outlet for me to be ablt to go into the studio and write a song like 'Petals,' which is one of my most personal songs and remains one of my favorites. I think [it has the most] honest lyrics I've ever written."
"'Petals' wasn't a single." The label led with "Heartbreaker," produced by Carey with a friend she met through mutual acquaintences, DJ Clue. "He came up with the Stacey Lattisaw 'Attack of the Name Game' loop because he felt it was very much in my vein, like those happy kind of records. And when he came up with the 'It Ain't No Fun,' the remix, that's when I knew it was over. That's when I said this is the hottest record I've ever done, in terms of a club record. That and 'Fantasy' with Ol' Dirty Bastard, because you can still go to clubs and hear them play that 'Heartbreaker' remix with Missy [Elliott] and [Da] Brat. I love collaborating with Clue." Carey is also effusive about her "Heartbreaker" partner, Jay-Z. "It's fun when you find people you can relate to and that you respect. Jay-Z is someone I so admire as a writer and as an artist. We could be sitting in the studio and he could freestyle a rhyme that would be incredible just off the top of his head. He doesn't need pen and paper. I equate that to a singer who can pick up the mike and riff and ad-lib over a song and take you to a totally new place."
Carey recounts her inspiration for the "Heartbreaker" lyrics: "It was from the standpoint of girls who keep going back to that same guy and they can't help themselves. They know they're going to get hurt. I've been one of those girls, so I know there's a lot of them out there."
Providing backing vocals on "Heartbreaker" was someone Carey had known for a long time. Trey Lorenz was the male voice on her remake of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There." "He's an amazing writer and singer," says Carey. "He's so influenced by old school stuff, yet he's so current. He's known me since before my first album, and he's a great, loyal friend."
There's a party atmosphere on the original version of "Heartbreaker" on the Rainbow album. But there wasn't a big crowd in the studio. "It's me, Clue, and Jay-Z, and whatever other producer things Clue put in," says Carey. "Being a DJ, he has a lot of different ideas for making atmospheric stuff on mix tapes."
"Heartbreaker" was Carey's 14th number one on the Hot 100, a total run up in just over nine years. With "Heartbreaker," she sailed past Michael Jackson's 13 chart-toppers to claim third place among artists with the most number ones. Only the Beatles (with 20) and Elvis Presley (with 17) had more than Carey, and she wasn't finished with the pole position.
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