The other Bailey sibling now goes solo.
Halle
Halle Flies Like An ‘Angel’ On Her Empowering Solo Debut Single
Following a critically-acclaimed performance as Ariel in Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid, Halle Bailey is finally putting out music of her own. For over a decade, Halle Bailey — who is simply going by Halle for her solo era — has been putting out music with her sister, Chlöe as the superstar duo, Chloe X Halle. Now, with her solo single, “Angel,” she is entering the landscape with her solo commercial debut.
On “Angel,” Halle reflects on growing up in the spotlight, and the painful words she received on the way. Over a piano-and-string-driven ballad, she rises above the heartache, and encourages others to follow.
“Heaven knows your wings can weigh you down / but angels make a way somehow,” Halle sings on the song’s chorus.
“Angel” is accompanied by an empowering visual directed by Wendy Morgan, which further cements Halle’s mission to uplift girls and young women like herself.
“This song for me is so very special and near and dear to my heart,” said Halle in a statement. “With everything I’ve gone through the past 3-4 years, suddenly finding myself in this bubble of all these eyes and new opinions, it was easy for me to feel doubt in myself and who I was. This song for me was my climb out of those feelings, a mantra and promise to myself that the work I’m doing here on earth matters and that I matter. I wanted to be able to embrace and be proud of myself and who I am naturally through and through. I hope other brown and Black girls and everyone in general feel embraced, respected, and inspired hearing the words of this song.”
You can listen to “Angel” above.
‘The Little Mermaid’ Halle Bailey Went Undercover To Watch Her Movie In The Theater With A Truly Laughable Disguise
Movie stars have always donned disguises to engage in everyday activities like shopping and going to the movies but usually, it only works when they go to extremes like Drake once did to attend a friend’s court appearance (he says even then, people still recognized him). However, The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey recently got away with a simple-but-effective one herself when she went to a public theater to watch her film debut by herself, even when she stopped to get a video of the massive, wall-spanning video poster touting the film in the lobby.
The “costume” in question consisted of a pair of dark sunglasses and a face mask, which were apparently all it took to obscure her recognizable features, even as she passed by fans taking selfies with the poster screen. It probably helps that her signature locs had been restyled into thicker twists and colored brown as opposed to the vivid red of her character. For what it’s worth, the theater appears to be the AMC at Americana at Brand in Glendale, which isn’t so far from Hollywood that celebrity appearances are very unusual, so if anyone did actually recognize her, they were probably at least a little bit more chill about it.
@hallebailey can’t believe the little mermaid is the #1 movie in the world you guys!! went to the theatre to go see it last night
Still, could you imagine looking over and seeing the star of the movie you’re currently watching sitting there eating popcorn out of a novelty bucket? Not only did you get to see a really good movie, but you also now have a story that no one is ever going to believe.
Halle Bailey Got Starstruck Meeting A Certain Iconic Actress At The Oscars: ‘I’m Such A Big Fan’
Even celebrities get starstruck. Though Halle Bailey is having a colossal year with her role as Ariel in The Little Mermaid — which led to her getting her own doll — she was fangirling at The Oscars last night (March 12) over a certain iconic actress.
In the midst of an interview with a reporter for Variety, the reporter began waving the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis over, saying, “Jamie, someone wants to meet you.” Meanwhile, Bailey, visibly anxious, said, “Oh, my god,” before introducing herself and shaking Curtis’s hand.
“I know who you are,” Curtis assured her.
“I’m such a big fan,” Bailey raved with a big smile on her face. “You look beautiful! You look so pretty!”
After a wholesome embrace, they had a picture taken together, looking spectacular in their sprawling dresses. After Curtis left, Bailey said to the reporter, “She’s so nice!”
@varietymagazine Halle Bailey and Jamie Lee Curtis meet at the #Oscars
Upon revealing her Little Mermaid doll, Bailey shared a heartwarming video in which she teared up while showing off the figurine. “This is the new Little Mermaid doll,” she said to the camera. “I am literally choking up because this means so much to me. To have one that looks like me — that’s my favorite Disney character — is very surreal.”
Halle Bailey Revealed Her Ariel Doll From ‘The Little Mermaid’ And It Sounds Like Beyoncé Wants One Too
As I’m sure you know by now, Halle Bailey is due to appear as the titular character in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid — which means that not only will her likeness be appearing in trailers and on billboards but on toy aisle shelves as well.
The singer choked up as she revealed the strikingly accurate Ariel doll in a video on her social media pages, gushing that “she even has my mole!” A voice can be heard from off-camera saying “I want one,” and fans are convinced that it’s none other than Halle’s mentor Beyoncé, as evidenced by a comment from her cousin Angie Beyince saying “I’m with [bee emoji] I want 1!”
omg
the little girl in me is pinching herself right now ..i have my own Little Mermaid Ariel doll !!! I can’t believe how much she captures my version of this iconic character
brb gonna go cry now … pic.twitter.com/NKn0H0mssT
— Halle (@HalleBailey) March 6, 2023
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(@jayzswife) March 6, 2023
Bailey’s casting, although progressive on its face, wasn’t without some controversy. Upon seeing the first teaser revealing Halle as the aquatic protagonist, some viewers took to social media to decry the casting decision. However, Halle took the criticism in stride, thanks to encouraging words from her grandparents and the realization that the casting was symbolic of progress for little Black girls who get to see themselves as princesses.
The same principle probably applies to the doll as well. While there’ve been plenty of Black dolls throughout the years, few have been officially licensed by Disney based on their most lucrative intellectual properties.
Halle Bailey Reveals How She Got Through The Racist Backlash Against Her ‘Little Mermaid’ Casting
When young R&B star Halle Bailey was announced as the star of Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of the beloved animated 1989 classic The Little Mermaid, not everyone was as enthused about the update to the Disney Renaissance favorite as her co-stars. To put it plainly, the subset of genre fans who always complain loudly whenever a minor change is made to a character’s skin color or gender really came for Halle, denouncing her casting as a case of “race-swapping” gone overboard — despite the fact that the main character Ariel’s race is in no way important to the story of her trading her voice for legs.
And unfortunately, due to the ever-pervasive nature of social media, those complaints made their way back to the actress herself. However, she was undeterred by the criticism, as she told Variety in a long-form feature published today. This was thanks mainly to her grandparents, who encouraged her in the face of the racist #NotMyAriel movement.
“It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement,” she said, “telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you.’” Their words helped put things into perspective for her: “What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything,” she explained. “Things that seem so small to everyone else, it’s so big to us.”
Elsewhere in the feature, Halle recounted how the time spent away from her sister Chloe while filming during 2020, the height of COVID lockdowns, affected her. “She couldn’t visit me; everything was on lockdown,” she said. “It was that agony, that pain of being pulled away from something that’s like your arm, so I was pulling from that.”
The Little Mermaid is set for release on May 23, 2023.
Yes, That DDG Line About Him And Gunna On A Double Date Is About Exactly Who You Think It Is
One of the most fun parts of hip-hop music is deciphering rappers’ bars, unraveling their cryptic references and tongue-twisting wordplay to uncover hidden meanings or clever turns of phrase that tell us more about them past their boastful personas. One bar that captured fans’ imaginations came from Michigan rapper DDG on his viral hit “Elon Musk.” DDG hints that he and his costar on the song, Gunna, went on a double date, but doesn’t say with whom; fans naturally took the license to speculate on the rappers’ respective romantic partners, given who they’ve been seen hanging out with in recent months.
Now, thanks to Uproxx’s Cherise Johnson, we have confirmation: That line is about exactly who fans think it is. Sure, it wasn’t that hard to figure out, but it’s nice to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. “I think it’s self-explanatory,” DDG elaborates. “I think the world knows that me and Gunna have a mutual situation with people that are related. Gunna got a Maybach, I got a Maybach — he got the truck, I got the car. One day, he was on a date, I was on a date, we pulled up at the same time.”
For those who don’t know, both rappers had been seen in the company of the sister duo, Chloe X Halle — Gunna with Chloe Bailey, and DDG with the younger sibling, Halle. Although the two R&B stars have been coy, and even Gunna denied that things were serious, DDG’s admission puts both relationships on Front street. You can watch DDG explain his bar above.
Gunna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.