Halsey shared their experience working with record label executives and the media while pregnant in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.
In the hour-long conversation the pair discussed Halsey’s new album and film, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, as well as how the singer approached record label executives with the news they were pregnant.
“You have to call the CEO of X, Y, Z and say, ‘Hey, hi. I’m just calling to let you know, I’m pregnant. I didn’t want you to find out on Instagram. I wanted to tell you myself, personally. It’s still business as usual over here though, don’t worry,’” said Halsey, who is signed with Capital Records. “‘My personal choice isn’t going to affect your profitability or your productivity or your assembly line. And also, in what world would you ever have to call me to tell me that you were having a baby? But I have to call you because it impacts your product.’”
The artist also said there are some specific challenges that come along with being a female pop star, often related to age.
“I think that the weight of…a female artist [is] deciphering time as not your enemy, when you’ve been taught for so long to think that it is,” Halsey said. “‘Don’t get too old. Don’t get pregnant because then you can’t go on tour.’ It’s really nice to be able to look at time as an ally, where for me time has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s allowed me to grow and allowed me to heal and allowed me to develop. I do remember around Manic being like, ‘I’m washed… What’s next for me? When are people going to get sick of it? I’ll probably have to have a baby and start a family and then I’ll just be done being Halsey.’”
Halsey told Lowe that their decision to get pregnant also impacted how they were covered by the press, especially on magazine covers.
“I mean, there was publications [that when] we were going out and trying to set up magazine covers based around the album release, they were like, ‘Yeah, but is she going to be pregnant? Because we don’t want to do a maternity cover,’” Halsey said. “And I was like, ‘It’s not a maternity cover. It’s about my album, I just happen to be pregnant.’ And they’re like, ‘No, it’s a pregnant cover.’ And I was like, ‘So I can’t go talk about my album?’”
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power dropped earlier this month. The album was accompanied by an hour-long IMAX film stars the singer in the lead role and features music from her album. The LP sees the singer collaborating for the first time with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
From Rolling Stone US
