they slay
Not only do these singers have talent in spades, they’re Beyoncé-approved.
“The music industry is dominated by men,” says Beyoncé. “And these labels try to make carbon copies of whoever is successful at that moment. I’m over that.” So she’s taken matters into her own hands, unleashing a battalion of female talent via the new record-label arm of her company, Parkwood Entertainment. We meet the first three acts, starting with sister duo Chloe X Halle (left), all raised up by Queen Bey: “I want to take my resources and give these artists the support of the best, to nurture them and allow them to be who they really are.”
CHLOE X HALLE
In 2013, the Youtube phenom Bailey sisters – loved for their haunting acoustic covers – posted a soaring version of Beyoncé’s “Pretty Hurts”. It went viral and “the next thing we knew,” Halle says, “we got an email from Parkwood asking if we were signed.” Adds Chloe: “We freaked out! We told them to call our dad.”
More than 11 million views of the video later, Chloe, 17, and Halle, 16, are writing original songs – on which their voices unite in sibling harmony as easily as they diverge into singular, powerhouse entities – that are reminiscent of R&B innovators FKA Twigs and SZA. “Beyoncé calls us her ‘angelic aliens’,” says Chloe, who, thanks to their home studio (which Beyoncé upgraded when they signed) helped produce tracks for their debut album, Sugar Symphony. “Chloe turned into this beautiful flower with her producing,” Halle says. “It’s so bomb. I just stick to playing my guitar.”
The results of their efforts: songs like “Baby Bird” and “Fall”, both of which address the self-exploration, curiosity about the world, fear and, ultimately, growth of girls their age. “What’s so great about the world is that none of us stay the same,” says Chloe. “We all evolve,” adds Halle, “so in popular music, I want to hear something different. When it’s unexpected, that’s what makes my heart pitter-patter.”
Above Chloe (left) wears: dress, $2,550, top, $1,050, both Giamba, modaoperandi.com; earrings, $970, Gucci, gucci.com/au Halle wears: jacket, $6,690, shirt, $1,200, skirt, $2,964, all Gucci, gucci.com/au; stud earring, $475, Alison Lou, net-a-porter.com; drop earring, $7,826, Delfina Delettrez, delfinadelettrez.com
INGRID
“It’s a pretty crazy coincidence that I grew up a street over from one of the most incredible talents in the world,” says 30-year-old singer/rapper Ingrid of her Beyoncé-adjacent childhood in Houston in the US. “Our mothers were great friends,” Ingrid continues, “so our relationship is very personal, but I never expected anything from it.” Beyoncé had other ideas.
After successfully releasing four mixtapes, gaining a healthy fan base and opening for then-emerging talent like Drake and J Cole, Ingrid moved to Brooklyn to continue writing and recording. “I was completely broke,” she says. “I’m a painter, so I sold my art to pay the rent.” Then her old neighbour invited her to the Hamptons for a writing session for the 2013 smash-hit album Beyoncé. “When Beyoncé asks you to take a stab at a song for her, you do it,” Ingrid says. “And I took a pretty big stab. My presence definitely inspired the gold grillz, the ‘bow down’ – the overt H-town shit that embraced her roots in Houston.”
It also inspired Beyoncé to sign her to Parkwood, where Ingrid could pour that teeth gnashing, Southern hip-hop into her own album, Trill Feels, on which she often gets real about what a woman can and should demand: power, respect and, of course, sex. “That’s the kind of artist I am,” she says. “I’m open. I’m free. I’m honest in my creation. I don’t hold back.” Below Ingrid wears: jacket, $3,990, Tom Ford, harrolds.com.au; hat, $1,100, Gladys Tamez Millinery, desordrestore.com; earring, $695, Ariel Gordon, arielgordonjewelry.com; necklace, $9,350, Nadine Ghosn, nadineghosn.com
SOPHIE BEEM
A self-taught pianist, guitarist and vocalist, 17-year-old Sophie Beem took her singer-songwriter skills from her bedroom on New York’s cushy Upper East Side to the downtown scene where, in 2013, she was discovered at landmark rock club The Bitter End by Parkwood’s former general manager, Lee Anne Callahan-longo, during a live show. Soon after, a pitch package of sorts – videos, photos, music and a letter from Beem – was handdelivered to Beyoncé on tour. “Within a week, I got the call that they wanted to sign me as one of their first artists,” Beem recalls. “I was in my room on my bed. I just burst into tears.”
Since then, she’s been honing a rhythmic, urban-slanted pop sound laden with beats that bounce like the best of Rihanna and Kesha, as well as a voice rich with both R&B texture and anthemic power. Bop through her first self-titled EP and you can practically see the back-up dancers – who, incidentally, Beem has all lined up. Training to perform on-stage is just another part of Beyoncé boot camp. “The best advice she’s given me? Run on a treadmill for an hour every single day and sing,” Beem says with a laugh. As a girl embarking on the rush of excitement and emotion that comes with finding fun, love and oneself at the outset of young womanhood, she’ll need the stamina. “I’m so ready,” she says. “Just ready to be out there, doing whatever it takes to make sure people hear and love my music.”
Above Sophie wears: jacket, $6,720, Saint Laurent, ysl.com/au; T-shirt, $49.95, Calvin Klein Underwear, 1300 131 701; choker, $4,075, Shay, shayfinejewelry.com