H.E.R.’s new music video is a nod to the countless hours “lovers” spend debating what “Could’ve Been?” But alas the dream narrative never progresses the way it looked on the seventeen-page either party neglected to inspect. With R&B shifting towards “dispassionate living” it’s nice to singers like Bryson Tiller and H.E.R. try and “sell a story” from the age of escapism.
The music video for “Could’ve Been” oscillates between a restrained palette of colors (blue-red) and a less nostalgic neo-noir outlook. The balancing act of colors effectively demonstrates a more complex view of why relationship come to a regrettable end, sometimes for reasons outside of anyone’s control.
H.E.R. just released her 2nd project of 2018 with I Used to Know Her- Part 2, the follow-up to The Prelude from which “Could’ve Been” is taken. There’s a stark difference between the two chapters, the 2nd posing a far different kind of (emotional) incentive than the 1st.
