Heartless (In a Bottle)

The Fray - Heartless (Kanye West Cover) Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow The Police - Message in a Bottle 2Pac - Dear Mama Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue Kanye West’s latest album was a real change of pace for him, veering more towards moody pop than hip-hop. Recently, I did a mashup of his “Love Lockdown” with Radiohead’s “Reckoner”. When I heard The Fray performing this beautiful cover of Kanye’s “Heartless” on BBC’s Radio 1, it really seemed to capture the song’s melancholy feeling. The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” also fit the mood, and for the beat I used a sloooowwwed down “Boom Boom Pow”, the Black Eyed Peas’ inescapable hit. Kanye based his original “Heartless” on a sample by the Alan Parsons Project, “Ammonia Avenue”, so I grabbed that sample, and also added a little bit of 2Pac’s “Dear Mama”, where he talks about being “heartless”.