Chloe Bailey on Working Solo; and the Lost New Jersey Photos of Cartier-Bresson

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

News, David, Books, Arts, Storytelling, Wnyc, New, Remnick, News Commentary, Yorker, Politics

4.2 • 5.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2023

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When they were just thirteen and eleven years old, sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey started posting videos of themselves singing on YouTube and quickly built a following. Their covers often went viral—their version of Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts” even caught the attention of Beyoncé, who brought them on tour as her opening act. Now, with two albums and five Grammy nominations behind them, the sisters are for the first time working on separate projects: Halle is starring as Ariel in an upcoming remake of “The Little Mermaid,” and Chloe is releasing a solo album, “In Pieces,” later this month. Chloe Bailey spoke with the contributing writer Lauren Michele Jackson at the New Yorker Festival in October about the mixed blessing of social-media stardom. “When we program our minds to think about being No. 1 … it really suffocates you and it stifles the process,” she says. “Right now, I’m just creating to be creating, and I have never felt more free.”

Plus, the lost New Jersey photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson. In 1975, the French master photographer spent a month documenting New Jersey, which he called a “shortcut to America.” Why did the pictures disappear?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNWC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:10.5	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, I'm David Remnick.
0:13.8	When they were just 13 and 11 years old, Chloe and Halle Bailey started posting videos
0:19.6	of themselves singing on YouTube.
0:21.6	Hey, what's up, you guys?
0:22.6	I'm Chloe and I'm Halle and you all have requested so many songs and you want to thank
0:28.0	you for that, yes.
0:29.0	The way you all heard the most was rolling in the deep by and down.
0:33.3	There's a fire, sawing in my heart, reaching all people, bitches bringing me out the door.
0:41.9	Chloe and Halle, that's how they build themselves, quickly built a following.
0:46.3	They're cover versions of other artist songs, often when viral.
0:50.8	A cover of Beyoncé's Pretty Hearts caught the attention of Beyoncé herself.
0:56.2	But Chloe and Halle were thinking a lot bigger than just going viral for a hot second.
1:15.7	They wanted to build a career and they did so.
1:19.2	Owing in part to Chloe's producing of their songs, something that's still pretty unusual
1:23.7	for very young female artists.
1:42.2	Beyoncé signed them to her management company and brought Chloe and Halle on tour as her
1:47.4	opening act.
1:48.8	Now after two albums and five Grammy nominations, the Sisters are for the very first time working
1:53.9	on separate projects.
1:55.9	Halle is starring as Ariel in an upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid and Chloe is releasing
2:01.4	a new solo album.
	...

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