"Hard Place"
Single by H.E.R.
from the album I Used to Know Her and I Used to Know Her: Part 2
ReleasedApril 4, 2019 (2019-04-04)
GenreR&B
Length3:32 (single version)
4:32 (EP version)
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rodney Jerkins
H.E.R. singles chronology
"Could've Been"
(2018) 		"Hard Place"
(2019) 		"Slide"
(2019)
Music video
"Hard Place" on YouTube

"Hard Place" is a song by American singer H.E.R. released on April 4, 2019 (2019-04-04) as the first single from her fifth EP I Used to Know Her: Part 2 and the second single from her second compilation album I Used to Know Her. It was written by H.E.R., Sam Ashworth, David “Swagg R’Celious” Harris, and Ruby Amanfu and produced by Rodney Jerkins.

Music video

The music video for "Hard Place" was released on April 26, 2019. It features H.E.R. and a love interest who make music together until a promoter wants to recruit H.E.R. without her partner.[1] The rest of the music video shows their relationship and the difficulties that they face as the singer's career rises.[2]

Accolades

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2019 BET Awards BET Her Award Won [3]
Soul Train Music Awards The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter of the Year Award Nominated [4]
2020 Grammy Awards Record of the Year Nominated [5]
Song of the Year Nominated
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Song - Contemporary Nominated [6]
Outstanding Music Video Nominated

Live performances

H.E.R. first performed "Hard Place" on NPR's Tiny Desk, in an episode released on YouTube on December 13, 2018.[7] She also performed it at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.[8] She performed it again the following month on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[9] She also performed it on Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That on September 28, 2019.[citation needed]

Charts

Chart (2019) Peak
position
Canada Hot Digital Songs (Billboard)[10] 17
Mexico Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[11] 12
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[12] 29
US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Song (Billboard)[13] 10
US Digital Songs (Billboard)[14] 16
US Hot R&B Songs (Billboard)[15] 15
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[16] 39
US R&B Digital Songs (Billboard)[17] 2
US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs (Billboard)[18] 5
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[19] 34

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[20] Gold 20,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[21] Gold 40,000‡
United States (RIAA)[22] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Regina Cho (April 26, 2019). "H.E.R. Chooses Between Love & a 'Hard Place' in New Video: Watch". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  2. ^ Beatriz da Costa (April 26, 2019). "H.E.R. Drops Video For Latest Single "Hard Place"". vibe.com. Vibe. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Ju, Shirley (June 23, 2019). "BET Awards 2019: The Complete Winners List". Variety. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  4. ^ France, Lisa Respers (November 18, 2019). "2019 BET Soul Train Awards: The winners list". CNN. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  5. ^ "2020 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominees List". grammy.com. November 20, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  6. ^ Gibbs, Adrienne. "NAACP Image Awards 2020: Complete Nominations List". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  7. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxxcEzM8r-4
  8. ^ Brittany Spanos (February 10, 2019). "Grammys 2019: Watch H.E.R. Shreds During Smooth Rendition of 'Hard Place'". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  9. ^ Emily Zemler (April 3, 2019). "Watch H.E.R. Get Emotional With 'Hard Place' on 'Colbert'". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  11. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Mexico Ingles Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  12. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  14. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  15. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Hot R&B)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  16. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Mainstream Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  17. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (R&B Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  18. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  19. ^ "H.E.R. Chart History (Rhythmic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  20. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – H.E.R. – Hard Place" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  21. ^ "Canadian single certifications – H.E.R. – Hard Place". Music Canada. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  22. ^ "American single certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
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