10 Rap Songs About Heartbreak to Help You Move Forward
Love and heartbreak are concepts that drive musicians to create some of their best work, and rap artists are no exception. The theme of the pain that comes with heartbreak is littered across the rap genre, with the broadening sub-genre of sad boi rap (or emo rap) recently gaining notoriety.
Not particularly known for its romantic side, rap music can have some stunningly beautiful rap songs about heartbreak. So in this article, I’m going to present you with my favorite songs on this topic, which hopefully you’ll not only connect with, but will help you move forward after a breakup, as well.
Rap Songs About Heartbreak That I Love
Let’s begin with a Post Malone song.
I Fall Apart by Post Malone (2016)
This first song, I Fall Apart by Post Malone, is a song by a lead artist in the world of hip-hop and rap known for more emotional songs. Track number seven on Post Malone’s debut album, I Fall Apart is filled with the classic feelings of being heartbroken.
The first verse is filled with pain, with lines like “cut too deep now she left me scarred” hinting at pain with references to metaphorical scars, and lines like “taking these shots like it’s novocaine”. These themes are reintroduced in the bridge with lines like “Ice keep pourin’ and the drink keep flowin’’” and “covered in scars, and I can’t help showin’”.
The entire song is full of references to feeling broken, a common feeling that comes with heartbreak, and trying to cope with what’s left behind. The final line of the chorus and the song, “You was my shorty I thought”, is a line that resonates with many broken hearts. It shows a deep connection felt, and an ending that brings up many painful emotions.
Lucid Dreams by Juice Wrld (2018)
Juice Wrld creates, quite literally, a darker turn of heartbreak and pain than the previous song by Post Malone. Lucid Dreams begins with the lyrics “I still see your shadows in my room”, creating images of dark figures looming over the speaker.
The eerie idea is continued with lines about death, graveyards, and being haunted by love with lines like “you left me falling and landing inside my grave” and “now I’m just better off dead”. “I was tangled up in your drastic ways” also gives off an eerie feeling, evoking images of the speaker dangling and tied up.
Heartbreak is emphasized in the middle of the song with the repetition of “You made my heart break” and “You made my heart ache”.
SAD! By XXXTENTACION (2018)
As the title suggests, SAD! is, well, a sad song—music that’s all about the pain of letting go during the grieving process of heartbreak.
“Who am I? Someone that’s afraid to let go” is echoed throughout the work, admitting, and embracing, the difficult task of letting a relationship go.
The pain of this idea is exemplified through lines “Suicide, if you ever try to let go” and “I f****n’ hate when you leave”. Given the references to torture and suicide, it is likely that the speaker is feeling more emotions that just sadness.
Abandoned by Trippie Redd (2019)
Abandoned by Trippie Redd is another rap song about heartbreak whose title expresses the emotions felt in the song. The very beginning of the song is filled with pain, expressed through the first two lines of “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep / I can’t think, I can’t breathe”. All these actions are actions often associated with depression.
It is hinted at in the first verse as to what is causing these actions to take place. The lyrics “Tryna find my love, shawty” and “told you it was love, shawty” work to piece together the idea of romance with the depression of the chorus, creating an overarching sense of heartbreak.
The title of the song, Abandoned, adds to the idea that the speaker was left by a significant other and are now dealing with the pain that comes after.
(I Hope You) Miss Me by Joseph Black (2020)
“I hope you miss me, I know you left” is a line that defines heartbreak for so many because it is a song about true feelings. It depicts a sense of longing for something that may not be longing for them back.
Joseph Black’s song (i hope you) miss me is filled with lines about trying his best and it still not working out, a concept that seems to be universal. The song depicts struggles with intimacy and vulnerability, dealing with emotions by smoking away feelings, and a previous lack of trust.
The pain of heartbreak is explicitly mentioned in the lyrics “I wish you knew how I felt / and you could feel my pain”. The final line, “I got some deep-rooted issues in me” shows a personal reflection at the end of this heartbroken message.
Sorrows by Bryson Tiller (2020)
The song Sorrows, by rapper Bryson Tiller, is another example of a rap song about heartache that stems from being left by a significant other.
Here, Tiller introduces this idea with the lines “Girl, you used to be my homie / left me with a dream she sold me”. The use of the word “dream” implies a strong desire. “Left me here at three in the mornin’” emphasizes the abrupt nature of the end of the relationship and “questioning all the things you told me” shows the mental processing that many go through after their hearts are broken.
The coping mechanism for the pain of heartbreak in this song is reference through a line with multiple meanings. Tiller raps “I’m down and I’m drownin’ in my sorrows babe,” just before the second verse.
This line of the song could reference, similarly to I Fall Apart (which I discussed earlier), the use of liquor to numb the pain, but it could also have a darker implication, like Lucid Dreams (also discussed earlier) and be reference a literal drowning.
This song ends with Bryson Tiller letting the girl in question know that he will always be there for her, showing that the desire for and attachment to the girl in question has not gone away.
Feel by Phora (2018)
Phora’s song Feel, on the album entitled Love Is Hell, paints the pain of a heartbreak in a different light.
Like Trippie Redd’s song Abandoned, Feel references not being able to breathe, eat, or sleep. However, where Phora’s song breaks away from the narrative of pain is the emphasis on feeling numb—not feeling anything at all.
The lyrics “Pop this, take that ‘til I feel numb”, “now I can’t feel all ‘cause of you”, and “‘Cause everything I do feels like nothing,” all paint the picture of being in so much pain that the speaker no longer registers the anguish.
While many artists use alcohol in their songs to show how they cope with pain, Phora instead references drug usage. At the very end of the song, Phora says how, “It don’t really make sense without you” but amends it to “I don’t really make sense without you”, conveying a sense of sadness and incompleteness. The song exemplifies the title of the album Love Is Hell and the emotions that come with it.
Heart on Ice by Rod Wave (2019)
This song by Rod Wave also uses similar elements from previous songs to show the pain of heartbreak. Wave uses a reference to not being able to breathe as well as the literal words of feeling “heartbroken” and “heart been broken” to show the pain of heartbreak.
The idea of ice in the song can take several different meanings, all of which evoke images of pain and being broken. One of the most important ideas surrounding ice is the cold, hard, and unforgiving nature of the surface. It is the exact opposite of the idea “I wear my heart on my sleeve” that Wave raps about.
Wade compares the pain of heartbreak to stormy days with the line “maybe that’ll take this pain away and clear up all these rainy days”. Wave wraps up the song, emphasizing the idea that putting his heart on ice is the solution, by saying that his heart is getting the best of him. This is a common feeling for those who wear their heart on their sleeve.
The Way Life Goes (feat. Oh Wonder) by Lil Uzi Vert and Oh Wonder (2017)
The Way Life Goes takes the pain of heartbreak and puts a more positive outlook on it than other songs. Throughout the song, Lil Uzi Vert raps about the pain of liking someone too much, so much so that you wish you’d never met them.
However, the core message of the song takes the pain of heartbreak and encourages moving past it. With lyrics like “I know it hurts sometimes but you’ll get over it”, “I had to get me a new b**** to hold the pain”, and “You’ll find another life to live” Lil Uzi Vert simultaneously emphasizes the pain of heartbreak and the parts of life that will get better.
Emotions by iann dior (2019)
Emotions are the core of heartbreak, as Iann Dior emphasizes this with the title if this song. The emotions brought up in this 2019 song create feelings of pain, loss, and hurt.
Like Juice Wrld, Dior mentions death through the phrase “think I’d rather be dead”. Dior expands on that concept, giving reasons of pain and anguish: “can’t take the pain anymore, I’m feeling hopeless” and “it’s hurting deep”.
Like other artists previously discussed, this points to a depression surrounding the pain. Dior makes it clear that this pain is from a broken heart with the lyrics “know you broke my heart / and you cannot fix that,” and wraps up the song with a repetition of the chorus.
Conclusion
Sadness and regret go hand-in-hand when it comes to rap songs about heartbreak. Rappers with all different styles and perspectives create their own take on this pain. And as fans, we appreciate their ability to spin out new, creative work when so much great art on this subject has already been created.
