Chloe Bailey has addressed what online critics have to say about her latest album, In Pieces, and didn’t hold anything back. On Tuesday, the “Have Mercy” singer embarked on the first date of her debut solo tour, “Chlöe: The In Pieces Tour.”
“I’ve got another song to sing. I just wanted to say hi again,” she said on the Chicago stage. “I couldn’t let go of this feeling. Thank you all for supporting my muthaf — king album.”
Bailey thanked the theater’s sold-out audience while also sending a clear message to her haters.
“F — k what the f — k everybody got to f — king say,” she said. “They can kiss my Black a–. Because I know you guys love me. And this is all I need. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your energy.”
The 24-year-old artist released In Pieces on March 31. It debuted at #119 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 10,000 units within the first week of its release.
Debuts on this week's #Billboard200:
No. 2, @MelanieLBBH Portals
No. 4, @xboygeniusx The Record
No. 25, @LilTunechi I Am Music
No. 32, @LarryJuneTFM & @Alchemist The Great Escape
No. 37, @davido Timeless
No. 67, @DJDRAMA I'm Really Like That
No. 75, @xikers_official House of…— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) April 10, 2023
Chlöe's 'In Pieces' debuts at #119 on this week's Billboard 200 (10K sold; @ChloeBailey).
— chart data (@chartdata) April 10, 2023
On Monday, Bailey took to Twitter to explain what was most important when putting together her debut solo project.
“In Pieces was about letting go and trusting myself,” she wrote. “I’ve enjoyed every moment of it, and I love everyone who listened to it. Tour starts tomorrow in Chicago, and I’m so ready to perform these songs for y’all.
Bailey has been receiving a lot of online criticism since debuting her solo singing career. This recently prompted her to hand over her social media accounts to her team, although she still creates content and comes up with her own captions.
“The negative things people were saying about me were affecting me and I noticed if I’d go out on stage or ‘if I do this people are gonna say this,’ and I realized that I was changing myself for other people and their opinions and what they were accusing me of originally, which was not being myself and being forced, that’s what I was tuning into because I was so occupied with what people thought about me,” Bailey said in an interview on The Tamron Hall Show.
“The second I deleted the apps off my phone, I was mentally so much clearer because you’re doing what makes you happy.”
Bailey understands that having grown up in the public eye may be the reason why some critics can’t come to terms with her image.
“I can’t really fault them because none of us are supposed to like everything,” she told Angela Yee in an interview. “You can’t please everybody just as much as you can’t like everything.”
The artist looks up to her predecessors to maintain a positive attitude.
“All of my favorites, they’ve all had a moment early in their career where no one really liked them …” Bailey added.
She references Whitney Houston being booed at the Soul Train “because they said she wasn’t Black enough” or Janet Jackson, who was looked down on “because they said she was too sexy.”
“I used to not understand it, and I used to be like, Is there something wrong with me?” she said. “Now I’m like, okay, maybe; maybe it’s a rite of passage … Maybe, maybe it’s God telling me, ‘Chlo, maybe just hold on a little longer.’”
“I don’t expect everyone to like me, and I don’t expect everyone to enjoy my music,” she continued, “I’m happy that they’re tuning in and they’re listening — so I don’t fault them for it either. It’s up to me to decide what I give my attention.”
