Beyonce Proteges, Chloe and Halle, have come a long way since they were introduced to us as the sweet little girls doing YouTube covers. After doing a cover to Mrs Carter’s Pretty Hurts, they went on to get signed to Parkwood Entertainment (because Bey knows a good business investment when she sees one.)
More recently, they’ve won our hearts with flawless comedic timing as twins Jazz and Sky (my personal favorites on the show) on the hit spinoff Grownish (for which they also penned and performed the theme song Grown); showing themselves to be far more streetwise than their preteen personae once suggested. The album also boasts of producing theme song Warrior to Ava Duvernay and Oprah’s Wrinkle in Time. These kids are winning, making money moves everywhere.
If it sounds like a modern-day fairytale, probably because they have Beyoncé as their fairy godmother. Credit goes to the girls though for that certain je ne sais quois aesthetic that almost dares you to try and dismiss their larger than life voices and abilities all round. They are taking a slow, steady path to stardom, guided by one of the best to ever do it.
Their debut album The Kids are Alright, proves the girls aren’t just curtain raisers. They are grownish women worthy of the Centre stage. In true Yonce fashion, the girls paired the album with a short film, with the Grown-ish actresses flexing their acting chops in an intense production. The highly-anticipated project provides 18 songs from the talented sister duo. Features appear courtesy of Joey Bada, GoldLink, and Kari Faux. Otherwise, the singer-songwriters hold it down on their own on cuts like Babybird, Baby on a Plane and If God Spoke.
Chloe and Halle’s harmonizing will get you together, almost reminiscent of Destiny’s Child. They give a choral aesthetic that surrounds you with beautiful voices harmonizing oaths of self-beauty and genuine love. Even while they each have their own unique and individual sounds with one registering high and the other really low (I’m still trying to tell them apart). The riffs and runs showcased more so in The Kids are Alright and the eerie and dark instrumentals in Hi Lo are definitely Beyonce inspired.
The album is rich in versatility with an array of sounds serving the proof in the pudding. They try their hand in trap, jazz, hip hop and RnB resulting in catchy bops, hardcore bangers and beautiful ballads with uplifting messages that will surely turn into anthems. Still their sound remains inherently and wholly soul.
Their instrumentals have a surrounding quality; as if music notes can reveal their literal shapes in songs such as, Baby Bird, Fall, and Everywhere. You cannot deny the mythical power of a good harmony, but when you back it up with acoustic melodies that swish and baselines that thrash like tornadoes, you also cannot deny an epic overwhelming feeling.
For being a debut, it is a HIGH Bar to hit. It is clean, clear, and powerful in its messages self-love as the path to loving this world better, which is so necessary. More importantly, it feels so rich and reputable in artistry and creativity that you cannot believe it a debut from two young women that are still under 21.Yet that is the point.
The kids are more than alright. They are bad-ass
Notable favorites; The Kids Are Alright, Everywhere, Fake Ft Kari, BabyBird, Drop
Overall rating; 8.5/10
