Chloe and Halle are two very normal teenage girls who happen to be signed to Beyoncé's record label, Parkwood Entertainment; the pair caught the icon's eye with a viral YouTube cover of her song "Pretty Hurts." While working on their debut album of original material, the Bailey sisters have continued to build a following online by singing covers of classics into their webcam.
Yesterday, the two teens opened for Michelle Obama at SXSW and performed their just-released collaboration with Missy Elliott, Kelly Clarkson, and a bunch of other heavy-hitters.
A few hours after meeting Mrs. Obama, the pair hung out backstage at The FADER FORT Presented By Converse, and caught the end of their friend Bibi Bourelly's set. The FADER spoke to the Bailey sisters about working with the First Lady and the best advice they've gotten from their very famous boss.
What was it like performing for Michelle Obama?
Chloe: We were the opening act for Michelle Obama's panel for 62 million girls in the Let Girls Learn movement. We recorded a song with all of these incredible women like Zendaya and Missy Elliott and Janelle Monae and Kelly Clarkson. That was one of the songs we performed this morning and it came out last night at midnight and that was so much fun. It's called "This Is For My Girls" and it was really great creating it. Dianne Warren wrote it and we sang that, along with two of our originals called "Baby Bird" and "Fall." We just had a really, really great time on stage.
Halle: Michelle Obama is the most gracious person ever. She's literally a queen. We were in awe of her. She's so nice.
Did you get to meet her at the event?
Chloe: Oh yes we did, we got photos. It's like talking to your long-lost family member. She's really kind—you can connect with her and her energy is really great. It was such an honor.
Halle: We were talking about her daughters and how they're the same age as us and she invited us to the White House.
So I've heard that you've spent some time writing with Bibi Bourelly. What can you tell me about that?
Chloe: We've known Bibi for about three or four years now. [It was] when she first moved to L.A., and that's when we first moved to L.A. We would write together. We're just really really proud of her, watching her grow into the incredible artist that she is.
Halle: It's fun because we all grew into our own artistry together.
I saw recently you posted a message on Instagram to Erykah Badu and you wrote "#sheisgoals." Can you tell me what you admire about her?
Chloe: Her whole aura and the way she carries herself. She's a goddess and she's all about the natural movement. It's her music—everything about her we connect with. We want to be that cool.
Halle: One day she followed us on Twitter and we started freaking out. We love her so much.
What's the best advice that your boss, Beyoncé, has given you?
Chloe: Beyoncé is amazing, first of all. But the best advice she's given us is to stay true to ourselves and that's pretty big for us. Being young girls, sometimes you look at other people and think, "I should do that and I should be that." But she has always told us to stay true to ourselves and who we are. The youth has a new sound and a different perspective and she said, "Don't lose that because that's something different."
Do you think you'll always do your covers in some way?
Chloe: Oh absolutely. That's what got us this far. Even though we'll put out original music and that will outshine [our covers], of course we'll go back to covers every once in a while, like, "Hey guys, we've got a little surprise for you."