*Singer, actress, Chlöe Bailey was a guest on SiriusXM Urban View’s The Mike Muse Show reacted to the backlash surrounding her first single “Have Mercy,” and spoke about how she has learned to embrace her sexuality and love her body, gain confidence from within, and realize that her voice matters.
During the interview host Mike Muse asked Chlöe if she was shocked by the reaction from those who thought her recent performance was a bit “too sexy?”
“The reaction towards you, and how you have embraced your body, during this time period for me, has been shocking. Because I think about the feminist movement, in particular within the arts space. I think about women like Madonna and Janet [Jackson]. I think about Grace Jones, I think about all these dynamic black women. Even Tina Turner has this sexuality to her that she embraced, Donna Summer. And my favorite film by Spike Lee, “She’s Gotta Have It” because for the first time we saw a black woman being able to openly express her sexuality, and her sexual freedom.. And so, I thought we dealt with all of those things prior to, and here we are, in this age of identity, and definitions and terms and the freedom of all the things, but yet people still feel un-comfortability with how you are owning your sexuality and your body. And I’ve got to be honest with you, that shocked me a little bit. I’m just wondering, how did that feel for you? Were you shocked by that?”
Chlöe said: “Well, take me out of the equation. It’s always shocking when a black woman is confident in the skin that she’s in and isn’t afraid to show it. So all of those women that you named, even though if that was years ago, that will continue to happen even way after me because the world isn’t comfortable with that. And I think as long as women who have inspired me and my peers continue to break down those walls and those barriers and say, screw what anyone else has to think, I will love who I am, and I will be proud about it and speak up loudly about it, then no one can really hold us back.”
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Host, Mike Muse: How did you and your sister develop such a strong constitution at such an early age to make those very thoughtful decisions like that? I’m curious.
Chlöe Bailey: It’s so much easier said than done. And even now I’m having such a difficult time. Sometimes, sometimes some days it’s more easier than others, because what you mentioned when you hear the outside opinions of others, and even though you are doing your very best to own up to who you are completely, there’s a lot of people who still have a lot of things to say about it. So then it starts where you’re looking in the mirror and it’s like, is who I am right? Like, is there something wrong with me? Why don’t certain people accept me? So of course, you know, I haven’t mastered it, but I will say I’m learning that my voice matters. And I have to believe in myself before anyone else will because they won’t, And no one will fight for you unless you fight for yourself. So that’s one of the biggest lessons I have learned these past two years for myself. And I’m learning it’s okay to be who I am. And if anyone has anything to say about it, it does not matter. It’s irrelevant because who I am is not who they are.
Host, Mike Muse: The reaction towards you, and how you have embraced your body, during this time period for me, has been shocking. Because I think about the feminist movement, in particular within the arts space. I think about women like Madonna and Janet [Jackson]. I think about Grace Jones, I think about all these dynamic black women. Even Tina Turner has this sexuality to her that she embraced, Donna Summer. And my favorite film by Spike Lee, “She’s Gotta Have It” because for the first time we saw a black woman being able to openly express her sexuality, and her sexual freedom.. And so, I thought we dealt with all of those things prior to, and here we are, in this age of identity, and definitions and terms and the freedom of all the things, but yet people still feel un-comfortability with how you are owning your sexuality and your body. And I’ve got to be honest with you, that shocked me a little bit. I’m just wondering, how did that feel for you? Were you shocked by that?
Chlöe Bailey: Well, take me out of the equation. It’s always shocking when a black woman is confident in the skin that she’s in and isn’t afraid to show it. So all of those women that you named, even though if that was years ago, that will continue to happen even way after me because the world isn’t comfortable with that. And I think as long as women who have inspired me and my peers continue to break down those walls and those barriers and say, screw what anyone else has to think, I will love who I am, and I will be proud about it and speak up loudly about it, then no one can really hold us back.
Host, Mike Muse: Chlöe, I love your ability to take yourself out of it as Chlöe, and then insert yourself as a black woman, representing black women across the board with that. So now with that being said, do you feel like you’re part of a movement or do you feel like the act of you alone is a rebellious act?
Chlöe Bailey: Honestly, at the beginning and I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t think being me was a movement. I was just being myself. And when I realized, okay, this is bigger than me is when beautiful women of all ages, all sizes, all shapes will say to me, whether it’s to my face or even online, how I have inspired them to love their bodies. And I think it’s more than me. If you think about it, there’s so many women who’s doing the same thing and saying the same thing that I’m saying, but no one seems to want to hear it. And it’s like, as long as women, we know our power and our strength, we will continue to rule the world. So it’s crazy to think that what I’m doing is a part of a movement because I’m just being myself, but hearing that is so empowering. And me what I’m doing, being myself, isn’t a rebellious act, possibly, maybe because kind of tearing down the worlds in society’s norms maybe that is a rebellious act. So who knows, but it wasn’t intentionally, if being yourself is being a rebel then yeah.
Host, Mike Muse: You know where I got that from Chlöe? I gotta be honest with you, it is not something that I came up with. I mean, obviously the act of rebellion is a thing that it’s out there, the narrative, but what’s been making me think about that a lot lately was I interviewed Robert Battle of Alvin Ailey and so we were just talking about how art imitates life, life imitates art, and I was asking him, does he feel the pressure to have to choreograph and set pieces of the work around the ideas of social justice? Because they have one dance movement that was a part of that. And he literally said having black bodies on stage is a rebellious act unto itself. And then I was talking to the Kelis recently and so she was talking about..
Chlöe Bailey: I love her, I love Kelis.
Host, Mike Muse: Same here, same here. And so I talked a lot about with her really about agriculture and her farming and she literally said that just her being a black woman farmer is rebellious act unto itself. And so I’ve just been in this space, just how black people sometimes showing up as our authentic self in these spaces is conceived as this, an act of rebellion on unto itself. And so that’s why I was asking you because Chlöe.. I talk to a lot of different types of people that subject matter experts around a multitude of things, the authenticity of you and how you speak for all women as a whole, no matter how much I’ve made it unintentionally about you, as I’m talking to you, I’m looking at you, I want to make sure it’s about Chlöe, but every time you keep bringing it up into a larger demographic, that means it’s real for you. And to me, it signals that it’s real, it’s authentic. You’re not on talking points. You know, there is no one feeding you with these things, right? And I even see you thinking about these questions that I’m asking you is almost, I’m looking at you process the question in your head as you’re going. And that’s when I know what’s good and authentic, and that’s kind of what made me lead me down that path of asking about movement.
Chlöe Bailey: I’m glad you did.
Host, Mike Muse: I’m so proud of you, Chloe. Let’s move on from movement and identity and feminism. To me, that’s what you represent.
Chlöe Bailey: Thank you.
Host, Mike Muse: And I guess I’m just so shocked at the reaction of you in this day of feminism and thinking about all the great black women artists who came before you, who paved the way for all of this to happen. And we are still here. Like it’s surreal to me.
Chlöe Bailey: Yeah, that’s so true.
Host, Mike Muse: What themes do you want this album to speak to?
Chlöe Bailey: So when I first started creating this album, I just knew it was going to be an album about heartbreak in all forms and all shapes because that was the place I was in. Everything I was creating was very moody and very bit sad. And now as I’ve evolved and the music I’ve been creating has, as I listen to the demos and the lyrics and even the production, I am happy. And I am learning to trust myself and learning that it’s okay to feel myself and have confidence and not be scared to admit that I love who I am. And I love how vulnerable it all is, whether I’m talking to my shit, or whether I’m singing about something really sad, I’m being honest. And I can’t wait for people to hear it whenever it’s ready, because they’ll get me completely Chloe 360. People just see one side of me, even “Have Mercy,” I love it so much. That’s the song I wanted to come out first and I love it, but that song is just the tip of the iceberg. Like people don’t really, I don’t think if someone was like, oh, this would be the next song that I hear from Chlöe, I don’t think they’d be able to pinpoint it. And I never want to be predictable ever. I’m such a huge fan and lover of music that it’s not right, and it’s not fair to just do one sound.
Host, Mike Muse: You have to reconcile being defensive while at the same time, just being yourself and blocking out that noise due to all the rawness.
Chlöe Bailey: Well, think about that. How you explained how you’re feeling. You’re a black man. So everything that you’re feeling, I’m feeling times two, because I’m a black woman. And a lot of times it is difficult, but underestimation is the best. It is the best feeling when you can prove someone wrong. And I think anyone, no matter what their profession is, whether they’re doing what you do, what I do, if they work at the grocery store, all of our challenges are the same. We constantly have to prove ourselves. So it really doesn’t matter what the profession is. We all go through that. And I think as long as we keep our heads held up high and don’t let what anyone’s saying outside of us, tell us, we’ll kind of be okay.
source: SiriusXM Urban View’s The Mike Muse Show
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