Gone are the days of Chlöe Bailey being a child star; now what you see is what you get, and that’s a grown woman. The singer-songwriter shed her good girl next door persona and transformed into a sex symbol who shook the world with the 2021 titillating single “Have Mercy.”
She seemingly doubled down on owning her sexy with the release of the sensual track “Surprise” in 2022 and then her freshman album, In Pieces, in 2023. The evolution has been personal and authentic, even if some fans find it challenging to accept that she’s no longer the teenager doing covers of Beyoncé’s hits on YouTube alongside her sister Halle.
In a recent interview with Hot 97’s “Ebro in the Morning,” she acknowledged that there is a space where long-time supporters who have known her for over a decade intersect with those who took notice once she showcased her curves. But neither she nor Halle are putting on a front to appease either crowd. “It’s working because we’re being authentic to ourselves, and we’re not like trying to make something that it’s not,” she told hosts Ebro Darden, Peter Rosenberg, and Laura Stylez.
As Chlöe raised the temperature, her younger sister became a Disney star with a more socially wholesome image as Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Her coming of age before the public’s eyes led to roles in the ABC young adult series “Grownish” and controversially in the Prime limited series “Swarm.”
The latter had social media users in a frenzy as Chlöe and Damson Idris shared a brief sex scene within minutes of the first episode opening. Still, she shared that, “There wasn’t a fight to be grown per se, it was a fight to just be heard,” amidst the noise of praise and backlash surrounding her transformation.
“I feel like the fight of, you know, seeing me grow up, that has been more of an external thing from like an audience’s perspective. I think I’ve just been living and my music will progress…I’m just telling my story…it’s never been calculated to be like ‘I purposely want to be more grown,’” continued the entertainer.
Last month, on Aug. 9, she released her sophomore project, Trouble In Paradise, whose singles “Boy Bye” and “FYS” marry her R&B roots with her pop and rock aspirations. Still, admittedly, she noted that more years will pass before followers fully accept her status as an adult. And she’s okay with that.
“I’m not blind or dumb. I definitely feel like that’s where people like to box me into,” she said about being viewed as a sex symbol. Adding, “But you know, when you think about it, I’m 26. I’m four years from 30, but I think because people have grown up with my sister and I, it’s like you can’t not see me as a little girl, so I think that’s what it is.”
Check out the full interview below.