"A lot of times the male response is like 'god, that girl's such a nightmare.' And it's like - you know what, yeah I am, good. Thank you. I'm a nightmare." Multi-platinum selling recording artist Halsey opened up to Valentine In The Morning's Kevin Manno about her new single "Nightmare," Alabama's controversial new abortion legislation, collaborating with Korean pop sensation BTS and more in a recent interview at 1043MYfm in Los Angeles, California.
Of course Halsey wanted to provide her fans with enjoyable music, but she also harbored an ulterior motive within this release. The 'Closer' singer's aim was to remind people that although songs like her "glittery" Chainsmoker's collaboration popularized her work, there's an equally angrier, aggressive dimension to her personality.
I think a lot of people who discover me on the radio don't know that I also have albums full of like, really angry, aggressive, dark, weird music. I had a lot of fans find my music...and then come to my concert and they're like 'why is she wearing a ski mask and fishnets?'...people come and they want to hear 'Closer' and I'm stage-diving, and they're like 'this is not what I signed up for. I think it was really important for me to put out a song that shows - hey, I do this too.
Kevin noted that the lyrical content of "Nightmare" had a certain sense of timeliness with the news of Alabama's controversial new abortion laws. Halsey agreed, sharing that she's never been shy about touching on such issues. A few years ago she spoke at the Women's March, which kickstarted her shift into what the "Badlands" singer refers to as "artistic activism."
I think that the tension is palpable right now. I think being a female artist as well, it's really difficult because on one hand you have this innate sense of wanting to protect yourself and protect your personal experiences with reproductive health because you know you're under scrutiny...you're under probably greater attack than like the average person who shares their experience. On the flip-side it's like you also have a responsibility to talk about it.
Halsey has the distinction of being one half of the year's biggest collaborations - "Boy With Love." Although the "Without Me" singer attempted to learn some Korean when working with K-POP superstars BTS, she revealed the guys talked her out of it due to the language's difficulty. She's still trying to learn bit-by-bit, though. Recording in Korean wasn't an issue, but singing live in another language while ALSO performing choreography? Not so much.
Singing in Korean was kind of easy because you're just replicating sounds and stuff like that. Singing in Korean live on television and dancing choreography with seven guys? Not so easy...I was super scared...I've only ever been on stage with myself in my whole life.
Check out the entire interview below.