Chlöe Bailey Covers NYLON Magazine

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NYLON released a new cover with singer Chlöe Bailey, following the recent release of her sophomore album Trouble in Paradise.

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview, Chlöe discusses everything from the power of feeling sexy, to challenging music industry standards as a Black woman, and the best advice Beyoncé gave her.

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On how she’s labeled in the music industry as a Black woman: Any music I do will easily and quickly be categorized as R&B because I’m a Black woman…If someone who didn’t have my skin tone made the same music, it would be in the pop categories. That’s just the way it’s always been in life.

On drawing inspiration from Whitney Houston and Beyoncé: Early on in her career, when she was doing the big pop records, she got a lot of flak for that: being told she wasn’t Black enough and wasn’t catering to the base that made her…To see how she persevered and has become one of the most iconic, legendary artists that we’ve ever seen, shows that music has no race, it has no genre, it has none of that. It’s just a feeling and it’s a vibration. And that’s why I was really proud of Beyoncé doing Cowboy Carter, because Black people originated country music. It’s just showing that possibilities are endless.

On advice Beyoncé gave her and her sister Halle: You have to let the world catch up because you’re always ahead of the curve…What I kind of love about my art is that it sneaks up on you…When In Pieces came out, not many people really got it. But now a year later, people are like, ‘Oh, it’s genius! It’s beautiful! It’s amazing!’ And if you think about it, that’s how it has been with me and my sister’s previous work as well. No one ever gets it when it first comes out.

On her “sex appeal” being a topic of criticism: People are so used to seeing me as a little girl, when I pose in what they would call sexy [outfits], the quickest thing that a lot of haters would like to say is: She has no sex appeal…That really makes me laugh because it just doesn’t make any sense to me! I mean, I am quirky, but I am sexy at the same time. You can be both!

On feeling more free with her body after spending time in Saint Lucia: Being in the Caribbean, everyone has their ass out, no bra…It’s so liberating…I don’t know why celebrating yourself is so taboo…It’s kind of fun knowing that, as a woman, I have that kind of power where someone seeing my natural body will cause a lot of conversation. We all have an ass. We all have privates, titties. I don’t get the hoopla…your sexiness doesn’t come from your body parts. It’s from the inside. I’m losing weight from all the dancing, so some of my butt is leaving. But I was like, ‘Wait a second — it’s still sexy when I turn around in the mirror.’ Even though my butt is smaller, it’s not about the ass. It’s about your inner confidence. When you have that fearlessness, anything will be sexy.

On healthy competition: It pushes you. It allows you to become better. It’s OK to celebrate other incredible women and also be like, ‘I’ve got to step my game up!’…Plus, I grew up running track. I’m a very competitive person.

On her love for Lego: It’s very therapeutic and calming…I was at Alicia Keys’ studio last year, and she had them all over her wall. I was like, ‘I love you even more and have never felt so seen.’ I don’t know if [Legos] are a thing with creative women — the act of building something from nothing and seeing it come to life, it’s so rewarding.

On what inspired the romantic woes in Trouble in Paradise: The story of this album is like when you have a summer fling…You’re a hopeless romantic and you fall in love, deep. You know it won’t last forever, but it feels too good to really care.

On collaborating Halle on a new song for Trouble in Paradise: I got in my sister’s head and was like, OK, what is going on in her life right now?…We both have our own lives. She’s a mom now, we’re both traveling, we’re constantly passing each other in the sky. And I was like, ‘Sis, we’re going to be in New York at the same time, I would love for you to be on the record…It just felt like old times.

[Photo Credit: Danielle Levitt for NYLON Magazine]

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