DDG said he’d advise his 22-year-old self to remain single as long as possible to focus on himself and his career. He made the comment while speaking with Jay Cinco during an episode of the No Ordinary Podcast, after allegedly announcing that he and Halle Bailey have broken up.
“It’s best for you to be single in these years of your life so you can really grind. Ain’t nobody going nowhere…unless a girl get a new n***a or something…whoever you like in this moment, but get your ducks in a row first and grind and not have no restrictions,” he said, as noted by The Shade Room, before comparing the experience of being in a relationship to a part-time job.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: Halle Bailey (L) and DDG attend the 55th NAACP Image Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
DDG continued: “If I was 22, I would tell myself, ‘Bro, just grind it out and let a relationship happen. But only happen when you feel comfortable within yourself as a man. I feel like you shouldn’t get into a relationship until you feel like a n***a can’t DM your girl and take your girl. Like if you feel like there’s a n***a out there that’s more lit, more stable than you that can take your girl, then you ain’t working hard enough.”
DDG Shares Advice For His Younger Self
Rumors about DDG’s breakup with Halle Bailey began, earlier this week, when the rapper posted a confirmation message on his Instagram Story. He wrote that the two will remain close friends. Halle, on the other hand, has not broken her silence on the matter. The two welcomed their first child together, late last year. Be on the lookout for further updates on DDG and Halle Bailey on HotNewHipHop.
DDG and Halle Bailey are no more. The couple charmed fans everywhere, especially after the arrival of their son in 2023, but DDG confirmed that they were going their separate ways on October 3. He put out a lengthy statement on Instagram, detailing their decision and assuring fans that they are still going to be friends and co-parents. The internet, being the internet, reacted in unpredictable ways. Some made fun of the couple, others criticized them for not trying to stay together for the sake of their child. Then there was someone who made a fake screenshot of a DDG message.
The message made the rounds the same day as DDG’s breakup statement. It was framed, similarly, as white text against a black Instagram Story backdrop. It also posed DDG’s decision to end his romance with Halle Bailey as something that stemmed from frustration. “I’m a grown man I can make my own decisions,” the fake post explained. “We chose to split because of personal reasons, nah it’s not a skit. I’m not hurt.” The fake post also posited that DDG is happy with the state of his relationship as long as his son is taken care of. “As long as my son good I’m good,” the post concluded.
While nothing said was inflammatory or especially bold, DDG didn’t say it. He took to Twitter to clarify that he doesn’t even use the “close friends” option on Instagram. This is where the screenshot was alleged to have come from. “I don’t even use close friends,” the rapper tweeted. He then directed an insult at the fans who made and circulated the fake post. “Stop being weird,” he asserted. The couple made headlines for dressing up like Janet Jackson and Tupac from the film Poetic Justice during their last Halloween, but not everything for them has been smooth sailing.
DDG made it clear that he didn’t like how cozy Bailey got with her Little Mermaid co-star during the press tour. He said as much in the song “Famous.” The title itself sparked debate, as Bailey’s Disney role made her significantly more famous than her musician boyfriend. “Filmin’ a movie now you kissing dudes / You know I love you a lot,” DDG rapped. “I don’t give a f*ck if that sh*t for promo / I don’t wanna see this sh*t no more.” Halle Bailey, who has yet to speak publicly on the split.
DDG and Halle Bailey may have just had a baby boy not even a year ago, but it looks like they realized they wanted to go in different directions. Moreover, the former recently announced that they decided to break up, which was a shock for some social media users and an opportunity for debate and speculative criticism for others. No matter what your thoughts are, it looks like the couple is proceeding with their choice. For example, they each deleted all posts featuring the other on their respective Instagram accounts. While we can’t know the exact reason why they chose to do so, one can assume that they would want distance at this point before continuing their journey as co-parents.
“Dear friends and supporters,” DDG’s announcement of the Halle Bailey split began. “After much reflection and heartfelt conversations, Halle and I have decided to go our separate ways. This decision was not easy, but we believe it’s the best path forward for both of us. I cherish the time we’ve spent together and the love we’ve shared. Despite the changes in our relationship, our love for each other remains deep and true. We are still best friends and adore each other. As we focus on our individual journeys and our roles as co-parents, we cherish the bond we’ve built and the beautiful moments we’ve shared. As we navigate this transition, we ask for your understanding and support. Thank you for your love and encouragement. -DDG [red heart emoji].”
As for why Halle Bailey and DDG broke up, fans have many theories and rumors to spread. Chief among them is the joke that Usher is to blame, since the rapper tried to snatch a cherry that the R&B legend tried to feed to Halle during a performance. It wouldn’t be the first time that Usher was the alleged root of a breakup, but that moment was probably just a playful antic without any serious repercussions.
Meanwhile, their co-parenting of Halo will probably maintain a strong bond between them regardless of their relationship status. All we can hope for is that things stay amicable and family-focused.
Actress/singer Halle Bailey and rapper/YouTuber DDG have broken up after two years together, according to a post on the rapper’s Instagram page.
“Dear friends and supporters,” he wrote. “After much reflection and heartfelt conversations, Halle and I have decided to go our separate ways.”
“This decision was not easy, but we believe it’s the best path forward for both of us,” he continued. “I cherish the time we’ve spent together and the love we’ve shared. Despite the changes in our relationship, our love for each other remains deep and true. We are still best friends and adore each other. As we focus on our individual journeys and our roles as co-parents, we cherish the bond we’ve built and the beautiful moments we’ve shared. As we navigate this transition, we ask for your understanding and support.”
DDG and Halle were first linked in January 2022, while DDG confirmed the relationship in June that year. In August 2023, rumors surfaced online that Halle was pregnant with the couple’s first child, and in January this year, those rumors were confirmed as they announced the birth of their son, Halo, who has since become a viral meme after making a face that works well for a variety of situations.
DDG and Halle Bailey seemed like a perfect match. The rapper/YouTuber and singer went public with their romance in 2022, and a year later, they started a family. Sadly, the relationship appears to have come to an end. DDG, born Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr., confirmed the split to the world on October 3rd. The musician posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, assuring fans that he and Bailey are still best friends and plan to co-parent their son.
DDG claimed that lots of discussion went into the decision to break up. “We believe it’s the best path forward for both of us,” he wrote. “I cherish the time we’ve spent together and the love we’ve shared.” The rapper and YouTuber made it very clear that there are no hard feelings between him and Bailey. In fact, the former couple consider themselves to be best friends. “We are still best friends and we adore each other,” he added. “We cherish the bond we’ve built and the beautiful moments we’ve shared.” He also requested that the fans of both be supportive during this difficult transitional period.
There have been rumors swirling that not all was what it seemed between DDG and Halle Bailey. In 2023, the former released the song “Famous.” The lyrics on the song allude to Bailey kissing her Little Mermaid co-star Jonah Hauer-King during the press tour for the Disney film. This was something that rubbed the rapper the wrong way, evidently. “Filmin’ a movie, now you kissing dudes. You know I love you a lot,” DDG rapped. “I don’t give a f*ck if that sh*t for promo / I don’t wanna see this sh*t no more.” Other lines allude to DDG being “insecure” about his relationship.
There were also allegations that DDG was being unfaithful to Bailey during their relationship. The rumors swirled because DDG’s ex, Rubi Rose, tweeted: “Having ur b*tch [wear] my clothes is crazy lol,” which of course led to speculation that she was referring to the rapper. To make matters worse, Rose shared a few screenshots of alleged DM conversations in which DDG asked about her location. “Nobody cheated on nobody,” DDG tweeted in response, seemingly putting an end to the allegations. Now, unfortunately, the relationship has come to an end as well.
Before photographer and Exquisite Eye Studios founder Breyona Holt captured the likes of music phenoms Coco Jones, Halle Bailey, Giveon and bLAck pARty, she got her drive from her hometown of Atlanta.
Currently based in Los Angeles, Holt credits the ATL scene for showing her the grind and hunger that she’d need as a burgeoning artist. It was in the mid-2010s that she kept SoundCloud selections on repeat, listening to acts Smino, Tommy Genesis, Raury, and Awful Records’ Alexandria. Even in her eight years spent on the West Coast, Holt’s mind hasn’t left her southern beginnings, which would come to shape the color theory and contrast in her commercial, editorial and cover artwork.
“We really grew up on dance cultures [in Atlanta], so the music really inspired a lot of the work that I was creating,” Holt tells Uproxx. “When I first started, my photography was very moody, and I think once I moved to LA, over time, I did see that my word got brighter, and I was kind of pulling away from what made me stand out as an artist. I had to take a step back like, ‘Okay, I don’t want to pull too far away like staying into the lines and following the trends and what LA has.’”
But while Holt would depend on her music playlists to soundtrack her mood while editing photos, she credits her father’s early film photography as an influence. Even as a singular visionary, Holt showcases that influence through grainy, analogue photography images of subjects like SZA and Normani.
Giveon
“I [loved] when I was going to his archive and what that would make me feel,” Holt says of her father’s works. “So even though I was mainly shooting on digital cameras at that time, I was trying to mimic that feeling that film made me feel. So the colors that you get with film is just a very organic type of feeling. I would say my dad was really one of my biggest inspirations at that time.”
Through her lens, Holt keeps an eye on individuals across entertainment, but viewers find her photos of Black women to be the most definitive. There’s an artist-to-subject unison where Holt channels the strength of Black womanhood and represents it with dignity. Holt’s portfolio exhibits crisp colors against genuine facial expressions and poses. Most of all, the Black femme energy radiates.
“I believe that it’s very important for us to be seen in a beautiful light and I think that sometimes, when Black women or Black men are the subject, we get the short end of the stick,” Holt says. “Whether it’s how we’re being lit–it doesn’t always represent us in the most powerful or the most uplifting way. Who I am at the core, I love art so much, and I want to make sure that we’re being documented and being seen in the best light, because these things will matter today and to generations to come.”
Since taking the cover art photography for albums like Joyce Wrice’s Overgrown, Coco Jones’ What I Didn’t Tell You, and Amindi’s TWYN, more recently, Holt shot the cover image of Halle Bailey’s new single “Because I Love You.”
“Her voice — she’s literally a siren; her voice is very angelic,” Holt says of Bailey, a fellow Georgia native. “Even just the instruments that she chose to use throughout the record. It was just something so refreshing and something I haven’t really heard before. When you hear a record like that, that inspires the colors you use. Just working with her on that project–the sound and the song is really what inspired the approach of the cover art, and I think it reflects the music video, which was incredible.”
Joyce Wrice
The commanding and vulnerable song would come to reflect Bailey’s confident stance on the artwork, which took on a life of its own. “Even down to the posing, all of those factors matter with the cover art. I’m so happy she chose that photo as the cover,” Holt continues. “I think it was empowering how you know her hands up, her chest out, the arms up–it’s just a very powerful image, and I’m just so happy to have this in my portfolio and to be a part of this.”
On capturing her muses, like the hair-blowing moment-in-time cover of Overgrown or 1970s funk ode on the cover of bLAck pARty’s Hummingbird, Holt likens the interaction to a “dance” between herself and the muse.
“These are real moments and actions for the most part. It’s not like ‘We’re going into these cover arts, and we want you to pose exactly like this,’ because I feel like it would come off a little forced and people would feel that,” she shares. “But these are real moments listening to the music on set, we’re in the vibe — this is a real emotion that they’re expressing through their body, through their face and the color is just there to amplify what’s happening.”
Except for the textured collage on the TWYN backdrop, Holt’s cover art is fairly minimal in practice, keeping the viewers’ gaze on her subjects, and the photography is a visual interpretation of their music.
“When I’m hearing the music, because I really enjoy color theory, it’s about ‘What is this making me feel?’” Holt says. “I think you can communicate a lot through color theory, you can evoke an emotion through the colors that you choose to use. I think using minimal backgrounds, for me, helps you focus on who the subject is. I love a moment where the environment is just an add-on, but like the eyes, the facial expression, the mood of the body language in the model, all of that really matters to me.”
Halle
Along with her photography, Holt calls it a “greater goal” to take her still images to the screen as a filmmaker, especially since she’s built her portfolio as a music video director and creative director.
“Although I started off, and I’m able to grasp people’s attention through my photography, I think people have taken a chance with me when it comes to these music videos,” Holt says of her budding path in filmmaking. “[I’ve] even shocked myself at what I’m able to create as a director, but as I continue to explore with music videos, I would love to grow in that field and do more short films and let that grow, as well, into longform video, movies and things like that.”
In continuing to document the culture, Holt also has her hands in tactile fashion projects under her Exquisite Eye banner, but presenting Blackness in an authentic lens remains integral to her purpose. Holt embraces her roots, and it shows in her life’s work.
“I just love my culture. I love being Black and I love how we always create such beautiful art no matter what,” she says. “To be in this day and age and be able to have the internet and be able to share my art and people gravitate to it, or they feel inspired by it, I’m just doing this for the bigger picture.”
Halle Bailey and DDG are both stars, and now so is their son Halo, as a photo of him has become the subject of a terrific meme lately.
The photo in question is a screenshot of a video DDG shared in August, of Wave on what looks like a mall train ride for children. In the viral screenshot, Wave is making a facial expression that’s a mix of concern and fear.
The image has made the rounds online and people have been having fun with it. That includes DDG: On August 30, he tweeted, “who made my son into a meme [laughing emojis].”
He also shared a tweet using the image that reads, “me looking at my bank account after a spending spree.” He added in another tweet, “my son more lit than me, i love it [teary eyed emoji].”
Sexyy Red got in on the fun, too, sharing a clip from the video and captioning it, “Me look at da 7 [black woman emoji] in a Nissan Altima Fly Pass Me Blasting Sexyy Red (I’m Doing 120).” Bailey shared that post and added a simple crying emoji.
After taking a social media hiatus earlier this month, Halle Bailey returns as promised with one wild video for her seductive new single, “Because I Love You.” Balancing rapping and singing over a driving instrumental, it’s a strong return to form for the younger half of Chloe X Halle.
Even if you think you know where the plot of this twisty thriller of a clip is going, you wouldn’t be able to guess the surreal snarl in the road ahead. What seemingly starts off as an exploration of a steamy love triangle — with Halle herself playing two of its points opposite The Book Of Clarence‘s RJ Cyler — turns into a true mind bender as “faithful partner” Halle catches “exotic dancer/other woman” Halle with RJ on a romantic night out.
The jilted version of the singer doesn’t just confront the unfaithful partner and his paramour, she hops on the hood to put on a show of her own. But right before Clyer’s disbelieving eyes, he’s confronted by a whole cadre of Halle clones (timed to the choral explosion of her duplicated voices on the track itself). The video ends on this cliffhanger, but whatever the many Halles decide to do to the perfidious paramour, you just know it can’t be good.
“Because I Love You” is Halle’s second solo single of 2024 after the more demure “In Your Hands,” and already seems to be much more warmly received among fans online. You can watch the video above.
There’s Trouble In Paradise, but Chloe X Halle fans are probably more than happy to hear it, as the new album from Chlöe, the older half of the sister act, finally reunites with her younger sibling Halle on the standout track, “Want Me.” A wistful track that finds the duo pondering one of life’s most relatable phenomena (“why is it the ones we don’t want that want us?”) over a downtempo beat composed of a simple guitar loop complimented by finger snaps.
“Want Me” represents the first time the sisters have released a record together since 2020, when they released their breakout sophomore album, Ungodly Hour, which launched them into the upper echelons of stardom. Since then, they’ve both embarked on successful, but disparate solo careers, with Chlöe delving into more grown-up material with her debut solo single, “Have Mercy,” in 2021, and eventually releasing her first solo album, In Pieces, last year.
Uproxx cover star Chlöe made waves yesterday (August 5) when she shared the aquatic cover art for her upcoming album, Trouble In Paradise. As the project’s August 9 release date gets closer, Chlöe has unveiled the tracklist.
The tune on the 16-track album that most immediately stands out is “Want Me,” which features sister Halle Bailey and is therefore essentially a Chloe x Halle reunion. Also featured on the album are Ty Dolla Sign, Anderson .Paak, YG Marley, and Jeremih.
Fans have been waiting for this album for a few months now, as Chlöe announced the project at Coachella in April. As the tracklist indicates, Chlöe’s recently singles “FYS” and “Boy Bye” do indeed appear on the album.
