Music video: Chlöe serves ass and Sci-Fi in her music video for “Treat Me”

After causing a storm online with her debut solo single “Have Mercy” and a whole bunch of Insta thirst traps either side of it, Chlöe ‘Bussdown’ Bailey is back with a follow up, “Treat Me”.

Whilst I really liked the sound of the teaser which was released some weeks ago, the full song is underwhelming as hell. And so is the music video.

Chlöe looks good in the music video. She always looks good. But it would have been nice to have gotten a bit more than what we got. Only in the setups with Chlöe and the girls behind glass did the video get interesting for me. 

Chlöe has worked her ass off in dance classes and learning choreography, but all of that took a backseat to shots of her in some tank of goo like that big floating bitch in Dune, standing in what looked like the throne room in The Last Jedi, and then arching that back on a table like a Twi’leks in Cantina.

I have zero issue with Chlöe showing skin and putting that body on display. If I had a body like Chlöe, my snatched waist and ass is all you would be seeing from me. But I want Chlöe to give me more. Give me a concept. Give me great setups. Give me choreo. Give me really great memorable looks. Give me all of this WITH the ass. At least “Have Mercy” had this going for it. And this isn’t even specifically a Chlöe thing, as I feel the same way about Megan Thee Stallion. Show me ass all day. Pop that pussy all night. But switch it up. Frame it different. Put twists on it to keep it fresh, whilst still on brand.

Chlöe - Treat Me | Directed by Diana Kunst

There’s this gulf which is widening between how talented these artists are, and the music and the visuals that they put out. Normani can take a seat in this camp too. Chlöe is so much better than “Treat Me”, and I hope that her album doesn’t end up being a 10 track album, consisting of 21 minutes of music, all of which sounds like “Have Mercy” and “Treat Me”. Because based on these singles, I’m not anticipating this album as much I initially was.

I get that Chlöe is exploring her own sound separate from Chlöe x Halle, and I adore that she’s doing so whilst exploring her own body and how she wants to be portrayed visually. But I just want more. “Treat Me” feels like such a disposable song. The chorus goes off, and I would absolutely shake my ass to it if I heard it in the club. But the song as a whole is so underwhelming. This is not going to be a go to song for me.

I know I’m a broken record, but I really do not like this current trend of super short songs. My issue is not the length of the songs, but that so many of them sound incomplete. The goal these days tends be making something that clocks in at two and half minutes, and not just crafting a good song. I mean, shit. That’s why we used to have radio edits of songs. We don’t even get those anymore, because songs are already so damn short. The version of “Have Mercy” which got released to streaming sounded like an unfinished demo. Not only was it shorter than the music video edit, but the arrangements that made the song pop in the music video just weren’t there, and I don’t get how somebody listened to that song, and thought ‘This is fine’ when it sounds so lacking.

HENNYWAY.

Chlöe is still gorgeous and talented. And “Treat Me” does have hit potential. Especially if she decides at a later date to release a remix featuring one of the dime a dozen female rappers who are hot right now. Speaking of Megan, she’d actually be great on this song.

💿 Album review: Chloe x Halle’s Ungodly Hour