Recorded 1993–1995 (remix) Label Atlantic | Genre R&B
soul
pop | |
Released August 22, 1995 (1995-08-22)
(North America) Format CD single, vinyl single, cassette single Length 5:52 (album version)
4:47 (Soulpower Mix) | ||
"Brokenhearted" is a R&B ballad performed by American recording artist Brandy. It was written and produced by Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones for the singer's self-titled debut studio album, Brandy and its chorus contains an interpolation of "Cry To Me" as performed by Loleatta Holloway. A remix version of the song, produced by duo Soulshock & Karlin, including vocals by Boyz II Men lead singer Wanya Morris, was released as the album's fourth and final single in August 1995 (see 1995 in music).
Contents
In the United States, the song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Brandy's third domestic top ten hit. Fabolous' "Makin Love" featuring Ne-Yo sampled her song on Loso's Way, while Danny!'s instrumental "God Bless The Child" sampled both "Brokenhearted" and the aforementioned "Cry To Me".
Recording
The album version of "Brokenhearted" was recorded in a single take, Brandy remembered during the release of The Best of Brandy in 2005: "There's a funny story behind the recording of that song! I really wanted to go to Six Flags but the producers kept saying, ‘only after you finish recording!' I sang my heart out...I wanted to go to Six Flags so bad! You can hear the passion in my voice!"
The idea for a duet version of the album originally came up while Brandy was on a two-month stint as the opening act on Boyz II Men's national tour in early 1995. Both artists were on the airplane on the way to another city, when Morris got his hands on a copy of Brandy's debut album: "I was listening to her album on the plane and I was like, 'Yo, we should do a duet of 'Brokenhearted'," Wanya told MTV News the following year.
Music video
The music video for the single was directed by Hype Williams and filmed inside the Oheka Castle in Spring Hills, New York. Williams picked the castle because the owner was willing to let them ruin the floors and the walls with water and paint to out the video treatment into practice. "It's basically a dream, because of course this is not reality," Brandy told MTV during the shooting. "I can't afford a mansion right now, so it's like I fall asleep and I dream about doing a duet with Wanya and I'm in this big mansion wearing these grown clothes, big beautiful Whitney Houston-type clothes." Since the water was on the floor, the crew had to wear boots during filming.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single-releases of "Brokenhearted".
- "Brokenhearted" (LP mix)
- "Brokenhearted" (Soul Power Groove mix)
- "Brokenhearted" (UniFied remix)
- "Brokenhearted" (Tumble Bumble mix)
- "Brokenhearted" (Soulpower mix) – 4:49
- "Brokenhearted" (Soulpower Groove mix) – 4:47
- "Brokenhearted" (acoustic mix) – 5:18
- "Brokenhearted" (LP version) – 5:52