The hard part, Teyana Taylor suggests, is not the breakup itself but what comes after. In the new video for “Hard Part,” a fan favourite from her album Escape Room, she and Lucky Daye navigate that desolate aftermath.
They drive a convertible through the Joshua Tree desert, a stark landscape that mirrors their emotional vacancy.
This is the quiet, pivotal moment of collapse. Taylor wanders the vast emptiness, a solitary figure in a vast expanse, while the ghost of her partner haunts a distant apartment.
The sparse, retro-soul arrangement feels like a hollowed-out room. Taylor’s voice is raw and questioning, posing inquiries that have long since passed their expiration date.
Lucky Daye arrives as a perfect counterbalance, his smooth, soulful tone offering a weary confession from the other side.
Their voices don’t just duet; they intertwine in a shared anatomy of a failure. They dissect the confusion and the cold pride that seals a fate.
Our verdict: This is a song for hitting rock bottom, but it’s furnished with a strange, graceful comfort that keeps you from shattering.
“Hard Part” doesn’t wallow. It simply states that the worst is over, making its poignant end sound less like a defeat and more like a foundation.