Welcome to her vulnerable new beginning.
A conversation with Halsey is a lot like the SlingShot ride at the amusement park.
First, we ease into things, like were slowly craning backward at the beginning of the ride.
We muse about getting closer to age 30, and whether that actually means anything.
We trade tricks for growing a short hairstyle past the awkward, between-the-chin-and-shoulders length.
(My method: protective styles.
About-Face Light Lock Highlight Fluid in Shaken or Stirred; Light Lock Stick in Please Indulge Me
Hers: nonexistent, hence her buzz cut.)
Then, it happens.
I get a casting sheet and Im like, Where the fk are the not-white people?
Jacket: Alberta Ferretti; Earrings: Jenny Bird
And everyone goes, Ohhh.
And then they open up the casting.
And Im like, why the fk do I have towhy do I have tosaysomething?
About-Face Shadowstick in Creature and Kill the Lights
Why dont I just get sent a sheet that is diverse and inclusive?
Why do you see how far you could push it until someones gonna complain?
In reality, Halsey and I are talking on the phone.
Still, Halseys got me fired up over a non-existent casting sheet, even through our slightly fuzzy connection.
Weve pulled shoots and covers, she continues.
Tens of thousands of dollars from having to fking redo st because there hasnt been enough inclusivity for us.
Then, a brief pause.
The SlingShot is descending.
Perhaps its the Libra in her, and her astrological signs never-ending quest for balance.
Suit: Assembly New York; Earrings: Mounser; Rings: Fry Powers
And we’re wrong.
They come from the mouth of an unknown protagonist.
(No pressure, right?)
About-Face Matte Fluid Eye Paint in White Noise; Matte Fix Lip Pencil in Paper Romance
AndIneed to tell you how.
When the time came to record her third album, last yearsManic, she took a different approach.
It was the first album that put Ashleysnot Halseysthoughts front and center, sans fantasies and fountain kingdoms.
I had a whirlwind of two-and-a-half years or so in between my second record andManic.
Here is really what’s going on.
Here’s how I feel, how I think, and what I’ve been experiencing.
As the album tells it, shes much more self-aware than that blue-haired 19-year-old.
(Her Jersey-ness is still present every time she says awl-so or ayund, however.)
Getting a head start on this epiphany did not help Halsey, though.
This industry is not something that is promised to me, she says, noticeably quieter than before.
I hope it’s soon.
I have a tour that’s scheduled and I wake up every day hoping it doesn’t get canceled.
But I know it probably will.
It makes me wonder, am I losing really important years?
I can sense that signature turn in her thoughts coming.
Its hard to believe that her important years could be over any time soon.
Thats not just because of her countless mind-blowing accolades, but also because shes just damn talented.
She won over country music fans through herCoyote Ugly-inspired duet with Kelsea Ballerini at the CMT Music Awards.
For over two years, Halseys been working on her foray into beauty.
I’m exhausted with this industry of Instagram filters, she explains.
I can’t control the lighting.
I can’t control if it’s my good side or my bad side.
The pictures would come out and I would just have to look at them and go, Okay.
That’s what I look like.
I don’t get to change it.
She hopes her line inspires all her followers to embrace their inner artist and go outside their comfort zone.
That made me feel confident, and I really loved doing that.
That was the first thing.
People who, full-on, should have had high-paying, salaried, full-time jobs.
People who make creatives I’ve worked with look completely mediocre.
And that’s what made me sick.
He’s with this little white baby.
And things don’t always go down civilly.
Those things are unforgivable for me at this age, she says.
On the other hand, shes not qualified to participate in every conversation about blackness.
And shes okay with that.
It’s just about, fkin, knowing what matters in life, she resolves.
Approaching that 30 benchmark, its like, Okay, what do I want to accomplish in my career?
And [don’t I] want to start a family?
Everyone has a specific opinion about what you do by the time you hit a certain age.
And now there’s the added pressure of having years taken from you, right?
Like, Oh, man.
I’m not winning.
The turn never comes.
