Chl?e Feels She’s Only Categorized As An R&B Artist Because She’s Black
Chl?e doesn’t want to solely be known as an R&B artist, but feels the default category comes from her being Black.
“Any music I do will easily and quickly be categorized as R&B because I’m a Black woman,” she explained to Nylon in her recent cover story. “If someone who didn’t have my skin tone made the same music, it would be in the pop categories. That’s just the way it’s always been in life.”
Despite the categorization, Chl?e compares herself to how Whitney Houston was labeled at the beginning of her career.
“Early on in her career, when she was doing the big pop records, she got a lot of flak for that: being told she wasn’t Black enough and wasn’t catering to the base that made her,” the In Pieces singer noted. “To see how she persevered and has become one of the most iconic, legendary artists that we’ve ever seen, shows that music has no race, it has no genre, it has none of that. It’s just a feeling and it’s a vibration.”
She also applauded her mentor, Beyoncé, following the release of COWBOY CARTER. “Black people originated country music. It’s just showing that possibilities are endless,” the Praise This actress gushed.
Chl?e also spoke on the advice Bey gave her during her creative rut as fans tried to project their wants onto her art.
“You have to let the world catch up because you’re always ahead of the curve,” the RENAISSANCE singer shared. For Chl?e, she added, “What I kind of love about my art is that it sneaks up on you. When In Pieces came out, not many people really got it. But now a year later, people are like, ‘Oh, it’s genius! It’s beautiful! It’s amazing!’ And if you think about it, that’s how it has been with me and my sister’s previous work as well. No one ever gets it when it first comes out.”
Chl?e is currently gearing up for the release of her sophomore album, Trouble In Paradise. When comparing it to her debut, she detailed that if In Pieces was about “appreciating the sadness of heartache,” then Trouble In Paradise is the opposite, where it’s “a coming-of-age celebration of being a woman and having fun, not taking life too seriously.”
It’s slated for release “later this summer.”
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