Key Takeaways

• These tracks flip the breakup script, focusing on retaliation instead of recovery.
• From lyrical disses to bold confessions, each song channels pain into power.
• The playlist blends eras and genres, but every track brings unapologetic energy.

Some breakup songs want closure. These songs want payback. Hip Hop and R&B have always included that feeling because heartbreak is only half the story. The other half is the response, whether it be a swipe, a smash, a confession, a warning, or a line meant to sting. The goal is ultimately to make the person who messed up feel it.

This list sticks to songs where revenge is the main point. That means no pure “I’m better off” anthems and no vague subtweets. Some records are funny, some are cold, some are messy, and a few get intense on purpose, but the angle stays consistent. You’ll also catch revenge that plays out in public and songs that turn betrayal into a lesson.

You’ll hear classics that turned revenge into a plot, like taking it to the car, turning retail therapy into a flex, or simply letting anger lead the way. There’s phone-based payback and story-driven retaliation. Relatively modern cuts are also included that keep the same energy with different approaches, like revenge fantasy, karma talk, and a lot of cheating back.

None of this is relationship advice. It’s (arguably toxic) music for the moment when you’re hurt and you want your power back. Check them out in no particular order below.

1. Bust Your Windows — Jazmine Sullivan

Jazmine Sullivan turns heartbreak into direct payback by smashing her ex’s car windows after he wrongs her. It’s on the list because the revenge action is the literal hook, and the whole song lives in that aftermath.

2. Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!) — Blu Cantrell

After getting cheated on, she flips the script by running up his credit cards and treating herself like it’s repayment. It’s revenge as a plan, laid out step by step, with zero ambiguity about the motive.

3. Thru Your Phone — Cardi B

Cardi finds cheating evidence on her partner’s phone and spirals into retaliation fantasies and threats that get more vivid as the song goes on. It makes the list because the central idea is “you hurt me, so I’m about to hurt you back.”

4. Kill Bill — SZA

SZA frames her jealousy as an extreme revenge fantasy aimed at her ex and the woman he’s with. It’s here because the entire storyline is just that (revenge), not recovery.

5. Caught Out There — Kelis

Truth be told, it’s the video that truly brought this one home. Kelis confronts a partner for betrayal with pure anger and an “I’m done and I’m making it known” energy.

6. F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back) — Eamon

Eamon turns a breakup into a full-on verbal counterattack, unloading on an ex who he feels played him and wasted his time. It’s on this list because the “revenge” is the record itself — a blunt, public takedown meant to embarrass her.

7. Creep — TLC

The song is about revenge cheating: If he’s stepping out, she’s going to do it too and justify it as an answer to disrespect. A simple and straight-to-the-point concept, indeed.

8. Karma — Summer Walker

She’s really Finally Over It in this song. Summer Walker positions karma as the payback her ex has coming, and she speaks like she’s watching it arrive in real time. It’s revenge through consequences, with the satisfaction of “you did wrong, now it’s back on you.”

9. Lost Ones — Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill unloads on someone (long presumed to be Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean) who betrayed her trust and tries to play victim after the fallout. It’s effectively a public teardown, making the loss sting.

10. Switch’d Up — Tink

The R&B songstress takes betrayal and answers it with a calculated decision to cheat back out of spite. It’s a clean revenge record, since the motivation and response are both spelled out.

11. Cheatback — Chlöe feat. Future

Chlöe and Future treat infidelity like a scoreboard and make retaliation the obvious next move. As with previous entries, the entire premise of this Atlanta collab is payback through matching the disrespect.

12. Imma Dog Too — Toni Romiti

Toni Romiti turns the “you did me dirty” moment into a vow to move the same way — cheat back, detach, and stop playing nice. Another hard-hitter that uses revenge as self-defense.

13. Meagan Good — Tierra Whack

The Philly artist details a relationship that falls apart after her rise, with her partner cheating and moving shady behind her back. Instead of just leaving, she explicitly says she cheats back in response and then shuts the door on reconciliation while she levels up.

14. Cry Me a River — Justin Timberlake

JT makes it clear that he’s the wronged partner and uses the song as a pointed response to an alleged betrayal, with a tone that feels like public payback. The alleged recipient of his message only adds to the overall spice.

15. I Should Have Cheated — Keyshia Cole

Keyshia Cole wrestles with regret and resentment, admitting she wishes she had retaliated the same way she was accused or treated. It’s on the list because it centers revenge as a real option and sits in that “I should’ve gotten my lick back” feeling.