David Remnick: When they were just 13 and 11 years old, Chloe and Halle Bailey started posting videos of themselves singing on YouTube.

Chloe Bailey: Hey, what's up, you guys? I'm Chloe.

Halle Bailey: I'm Halle.

Chloe Bailey: You all have requested so many songs, and we want to thank you for that.

Halle Bailey: Yes.

Chloe Bailey: The one you all have requested the most was Rolling in the Deep by Adele.

There's a fire starting in my heart

Reaching a fever pitch, and it's bringing me out the dark

Finally, I can see--

David Remnick: Chloe and Halle, that's how they build themselves, quickly built a following to their cover versions of other artists' songs, often when viral. A cover of Beyonce's Pretty Hurts, caught the attention of Beyoncé herself.

[Chloe Halle Bailey singing]

Mama said, "You're a pretty girl

What's in your head, it doesn't matter

Brush your hair, and fix your teeth

What you wear is all that matters"

David Remnick: Chloe and Halle were thinking a lot bigger than just going viral for a hot second, they wanted to build a career and they did so, owing in part to Chloe's producing of their songs, something that's still pretty unusual for very young female artists.

-time for nothing

I faked it for nothing

Can't talk to my friends 'cause they hate you too

And if the option's violence, don't make me choose it

God knows my heart, I'm wildin', I'm wildin'

David Remnick: Beyoncé signed them to her management company and brought Chloe and Halle on tour as her opening act. Now, after two albums and five Grammy nominations, the sisters are for the very first time working on separate projects. Halle is starring as Ariel in an upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid, and Chloe is releasing a new solo album. It's called, In Pieces, and it comes out later this month. Chloe Bailey spoke with our contributing writer, Lauren Michelle Jackson, at The New Yorker Festival in October.

[applause]

Lauren Michelle Jackson: What is that like going from duo to solo?

Chloe Bailey: When I was creating with Halle, I always had her by my side and I could go, "Halle, what do you think about this? What do you think about that?" If I made a beat, I'd be like, "Do you like this? What about this lyric?" She'll be like, "Yes, it's great. She'd give me that extra boost of confidence that I needed. Now, creating is the same. I never stop creating because, with our Chloe and Halle albums, I engineered and produced us, and all of that.

[applause]

Doing it on my own, the confidence wasn't there because I was like, "I don't have Halle by my side to tell me if it's good or not." That has been interesting because that's where you really have to step into believing in yourself and believing that your art is good enough. When I took up producing, I think at 12 years old, sis and I, we were singing all around Atlanta and there would be no producers who would take us seriously. What kind of songs and tracks are you going to make for 10 and 12-year-olds? It's not that hard to believe. I was in the house and had my computer and I started looking up on YouTube, how to produce and all of that, and it just happened and flourished on its own.

I love building. I think that's why I love puzzles and Legos so much. That's really all producing is, and how I layer harmonies in my head, that's how I hear the full production. I think that's why vocal producing comes so easily to me because that's how I hear all the different instrumental parts.

Lauren Michelle Jackson: I'm wondering if there are certain terms that resonate with you when it comes to describing the genre of your work.

Chloe Bailey: If there's one word, I'd have to put it into, I'd say unpredictable. I'm inspired by so many different random things and I like to put that into my music. When it comes to genres or labels or boxes, I just create how I'm feeling that day. If my heart feels happy and excited, and I really want to dance, you'll get a pop record. If I'm feeling really moody and grungy and sad, sometimes it'll be RnB, sometimes it'll be alternative. You never know what you're going to get. I don't want people to ever be able to know what to expect from me.

I think that's why I'm so excited for whenever God wants the album to come out, when it comes out, so that you all can hear all of the different places I go to and the different vibes and the feel and the emotion, and I just let my heart take the lead in what it's supposed to sound and feel like.

Lauren Michelle Jackson: I really just want to know the practice of the cover. What is the selection process? Not everyone gets a cover from Chloe Bailey. [laughs]

Chloe Bailey: It's definitely based on how I'm feeling. I've seen so many covers like, "What about this one? What about this one?" In group chats. I think it comes down to can I properly execute, because I'm not trying to be dragged online as well.

[laughter]

There's been so many times I've redone covers. There's been so many that I haven't put out. There's been so many that I think will pop off and didn't. There's been so many where I didn't put that much thought into it, and it got so viral.

[singing]

-got both feet on the ground

And she's burning it down

This girl is on fire

This girl is on fire

She's walking on fire--

Chloe Bailey: I have a love-hate relationship with social media because if we think about it, without social media, without YouTube, without covers, my sister and I would not be here. When I was little, I'd always be like, "I'm going to be a superstar. I don't know how, but I'm going to make it." I'm still saying that to myself, but it's crazy that the beginning of the journey started through that.

Lauren Michelle Jackson: Before your songs had a pop-off on TikTok, it was YouTube and the radio and all that stuff. No matter which generation we're in, there's always something that you want your music to be lit on. I think when we program our minds to think about being number one and winning all these awards when you're creating, it really suffocates you and it stifles the process. Yes, you have to have hit songs and pop in singles or whatever. That's great, but you can't let it rule you. Right now I'm just creating to be creating, and I have never felt more free when it has come to that, and that's when you get the magic.

[music]

Why I keep bossing like I do?

Why I keep flossing like I do?

Why I keep saucing like I do?

Why it keep costing like it do?

All this hands up in my jeans

You can't get up in between

You tryna get a piece of me

I can teach you a couple of things

Why I keep bossing like I do?

Why I keep flossing like I do?

Why I keep saucing like I do?

Why it keep costing like it do?

Chloe Bailey: With Have Mercy, I'm going to be completely honest. I was pleasantly surprised how it popped off on TikTok, because I did not make that song for TikTok. When I created the song, I was really emotional that day and I had this beat that my friend, Murda, sent me for two weeks and I was holding on to it because I really liked it, but I was like, "I can't mess it up." I think something online was going about me and not the most positive space. I was so sad about it, and Have Mercy was a response to everyone who had something negative to say about me expressing the freedom with my body.

[applause]

Good songs, and I didn't know it was going to be so pop, or so tongue in cheek. I was saying a lot of things in those lyrics I would not say in everyday life, and who knew that just speaking from the heart would create that? I just have to constantly speak from the heart.

Lauren Michelle Jackson: Now we have time for some Q&A. Let's see. This one's really cute. What advice do you have for siblings looking to produce together?

Chloe Bailey: Oh. Listen to each other. If you have a disagreement on something, try it both ways and then listen to it and then take the vote then. There's been so many times, sis and I would butt heads on certain musical decisions on a song like, "No, this way is better." "No, this lyrics' better." We've learned to just try it both ways. Sometimes I'd be proven wrong. Sometimes she'd be proven wrong, and I think that's the best way to see if something works.

Lauren Michelle Jackson: This one asks, how much of your time is spent on vocal preservation/maintenance.

Chloe Bailey: The vocal cords, it's like a muscle. Any athlete, you have to condition your body. You have to train. If you don't stretch, you pull a muscle. Things like that. I'm constantly trying to learn. I love hearing singers who are doing riffs and runs I cannot do. Plastic Off The Sofa by Beyoncé. That cover, it challenged me vocally, and I was grateful for it. Thank you. It's like a fun puzzle, and it's like once you get the riffs and runs, you're like, "Yes."

[music]

Because I like it, baby

I like it a lot, baby

I love it baby,

I love it baby

Chloe Bailey: I say this a lot, it was at the opening of the African-American Smithsonian Museum, and my sister and I were singing and Mary Mary comes right after us. The next song, and I'm sure you guys know I'm very open about it. No matter whenever I perform, I get really, really nervous, like shakes and everything. I hope it never goes away because, one, it reminds me I'm alive. Two, it's like an adrenaline rush. I think I live for it like in the moment, even though I feel like I'm going to faint sometimes I'm like, "Oh lord Jesus, help me." I'm like, "Oh wow. That was exciting. It was a thrill." It's like that.

Halle's always like, "Chloe, sis, we got this, we chill." That's Halle. I'm over there freaking out. Aries. They turned to us and they said, "Don't go out there trying to sing and prove yourself to anyone. Sing for God, sing to God, and everything else will fall into place."

[applause]

[music]

David Remnick: That's Chloe Bailey, speaking to Lauren Michelle Jackson at The New Yorker Festival. Their Debut album, In Pieces, comes out this month. This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. Stick around.

[music]

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