Halsey hints that Capitol focused more on money than her pregnancy before new album
Halsey is currently basking in the success of her fourth studio album called ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ that got released on Friday, August 27. The singer, who recently came out as non-binary, became a mother for the first time to her son Ender Ridley in July 2021. Keeping in mind the same, Halsey dedicated her latest studio effort to the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth.
On similar lines, the ‘Badlands’ hitmaker in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe took a dig at record companies and print magazines giving a hint how her album almost got jeopardized when she was pregnant as they focused on minting money instead of taking care of personal freedom of the artist. Halsey’s latest album is a follow-up to her well-received third project called ‘Manic’. Singer's 2020 album included some of the year’s chart-topping numbers like ‘Without Me’, ‘Graveyard’, and ‘You Should Be Sad’ among a few others.
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Halsey ‘If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power’: Fans adore album on pregnancy truths
Did Halsey’s pregnancy jeopardize her new album release?
Pouring her heart out to Lowe, the New Jersey native, who is signed to Capitol Records, asserted, “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’”.
She further revealed that she made it clear to them that her personal choice won’t impact their product. “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.'”
Was the album’s cover art a problem too?
‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power's cover art made a lot of noise. The stunning image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful. Halsey is featured bare-breasted while holding a baby on the album’s cover image. Apparently, earlier the print magazines had issues with getting the singer featured on the covers when Halsey was pregnant.
“I mean, there were 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,'” The songstress added, “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?'” The singer further shed light on the weight a female artist carries on her shoulders. “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. ‘Don’t get too old. Don’t get pregnant because then you can’t go on tour'”. She shared, “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.'”
‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ has been produced by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.