Sophia Michaels
When Chlöe took the stage at POPSUGAR Play/Ground on June 2, one word came to mind: confidence. Sporting a sheer bodysuit, a navy blue leather cape, and sky-high platform heels, the multihyphenate flooded the stage with a whole lot of presence, even though she was up there entirely alone. That’s right: no backup dancers, musicians, or even a DJ. It was simply Chlöe, with nothing but her voice and her talent and her confidence to get the crowd going.
And boy, was the crowd going. Play/Ground attendees had spent the whole day in downtown Los Angeles partaking in celebrity trainer-led workouts, self-care stations, and tasty bites — and now it was all culminating in a special performance and intimate chat with Chlöe. She took the stage right after a social hour hosted by SweeTARTS (with DJ Amrit spinning beats), so everyone was already bouncing in their seats, excited for the perfect conclusion to a perfect day.
Any fan of Chlöe knows the singer and actress loves fashion and beauty, so it was fitting that when she took the stage, her futuristic outfit was complemented by spiky, Y2K-inspired buns, chunky silver jewelry, and silver chrome nails. The look was met with enthusiastic applause, but when Chlöe started her three-song set with her debut solo single “Have Mercy,” those hollers just grew louder.
The incredible performance was only the beginning. Afterwards, Chlöe sat down with POPSUGAR’s Kelsey Garcia to chat self-love, sisterly love, and more. If her performance was a more stripped-down version of her usual concerts, then this conversation peeled back even more layers, revealing Chlöe at her core — confident, real, effortlessly funny, earnest.
“That’s my baby sister.”
Of course, many OG Chloe x Halle fans are thrilled for both sisters right now. While Chlöe just wrapped her US tour for her debut solo album “In Pieces,” Halle’s history-making performance as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” just hit theaters on May 26. But even as their careers have taken off in parallel but separate directions, the sisters are close as ever, Chlöe told the crowd.
“That’s my baby sister, and to see her create such an iconic moment for women that shows that we can be whatever the hell we want to be . . . I couldn’t think of anything better,” she said. “I’m just so proud. In the front of my home, I have this dresser, and I have my Ariel doll right there, so when people walk in, they see it.”
Chlöe kept hyping up her sister throughout the conversation (“we’ve learned to become each other’s safe havens and cheerleaders,” she said), but she’s also going through a pivotal moment right now herself. “In Pieces” was her first solo project, and it was incredibly vulnerable — an album tinged with heartbreak and growth. It captures her in this moment in time, as a 24-year-old spreading her wings. “It’s crazy how I can use my art to remember: this is where I was as a young woman,” she said.
One of the themes of the album charts what it’s like to grow up in the public eye. Chlöe and Halle have been performing since they were young teens — an almost unimaginable feat for practically anyone. But Chlöe maintains that the struggles she’s gone through are just like everyone else’s.
“Sometimes you don’t feel good enough, or, like, I get really bad anxiety sometimes about whether I’m doing everything I said I would at this age,” she said. “But I’m doing my best. That’s why I’m so open about my struggles — people see the dolled-up version of me, the put-together version of me, and I don’t want them to feel like that’s all of me.”
“Mentally, I’m in a much healthier place now.”
And for Chlöe, writing music is a way to process how she has evolved. “Creating music is very therapeutic for me,” she explained. “I just document what’s going on in my life. ‘In Pieces,’ I was in a specific place. Mentally, I’m in a much healthier place now. I was trying to write a f*ckboi song the other day, and I couldn’t do it, because I’m not there mentally.” She smiled slyly, and the crowd gasped and laughed, assuming she was referring to her past relationships — while she’s been linked to stars like Gunna and Quavo, she recently told Cosmopolitan she has been single for almost a year.
While personal drama likely helped inspire “In Pieces,” right now, Chlöe is taking inspiration from other women artists. She’s listening to legends like Missy Elliot and Joni Mitchell, she said, and dreaming up collabs with stars like SZA and Rosalía. She’s also had the benefit of learning directly from some of the absolute queens in the music business — including her mentor, Beyoncé.
The question everyone wants to know: does she still get nervous around Queen Bey? “Of course I still get nervous around her. I’m always like, ‘Whoa, that’s Beyoncé,'” she said, eliciting laughs from the crowd. “But she has supported me tapping into my producer bag — she always tells me how my drums are the best, my arrangements are really great. I’m creating, doing what I love, and knowing I have that stamp of approval from her means a lot.”
As someone who’s been “grinding and grinding and grinding,” as she put it, Chlöe made sure to take some time to try to unwind after her “In Pieces” tour. She went to Hawaii alone, where she learned how to surf and zip-lined. But she admitted it was still difficult to force herself to unwind. “If I’m being completely transparent, I’m still learning that healthy balance,” she said.
Perhaps the most refreshing part of Chlöe is that she openly talks about being a work in progress — just like we all are. But one thing is for certain when it comes to building up the inner confidence that’s so visible on stage: “I’m not going to lie, [self-love] is a difficult journey, and I’m still on that journey. If I had the magic touch to make self-doubt go away, I would’ve applied it to myself,” she said. “But when I’m doing music in the studio, everything else disappears. I feel like I’m taking over the world.”
There’s only one other place that makes her feel quite like that: being at her godmother’s house. She pointed to her godmom, who was standing in the crowd, and elaborated: “I can be myself there; no one expects anything from me.”
The crowd clapped for Chlöe’s godmother, and everyone felt gratitude in that moment — to be able to see Chlöe, just as she is.
