The Beyoncé-discovered R&B duo Chloe x Halle is arguably one of the most talented pairs of rising stars of today. Not only are their vocals a force to be reckoned with, but they also perform while sporting natural locs — a move one doesn’t see very often in the entertainment industry.
The 22- and 20-year-old sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey have been rocking their hair in that style since they were about 3 and 4 years old. However, the pair recently revealed that it took some time for the gatekeepers of the entertainment world to embrace their hair the way they did.
During a recent interview with Beyonce’s mother, Tina Lawson, the young women disclosed that they used to wear wigs earlier in their careers. “It’s really all we know,” Chloe said alongside her younger sister. She continued, “What I love about it is that we’ve grown up knowing that we are beautiful in whichever form we come. We were never really attached to our hair.”
Chloe said even in elementary school the pair “never picked up on how it was different.” She added, “We just were like ‘This is us. This is me.'”
Yet, it wasn’t until they started going on auditions for acting roles around the ages of 8 and 6 that the concern around their natural locs became a topic of discussion. The “Ungodly Hour” singers say that while they were applauded for their talent, they were told their hair was going to be an issue.
“We would go on auditions for these different roles, and so a lot of the feedback it would be, ‘Oh, we like you guys, but we don’t want to see the locs,'” Chloe explained. “So the solution was to you know, get a wig to go on these auditions with.”
Unfortunately, the two said the wigs were too puffy and didn’t fit well over their locs, but they kept trying to make it work. “We got played, OK!” Halle quipped. “Some lady put troll wigs on us. She was telling us it was the right hair. ‘This is what everybody wears. This is the real deal.’ We look back at the pictures? We looked like trolls.”
Ultimately, the “Grown-ish” stars tossed the wigs, to the relief of everyone, including their classmates. “It was so big for our heads,” Chloe said. “I remember we had school orientation the day I had the wig on. Everyone was like, ‘Chloe, your hair!’ I said, ‘Yes, I combed out my locs. This is what I look like.’ Then the next week, I came back for the actual first day of school, and they said, ‘Oh, your hair is back!’ I said, ‘Yeah, I missed it, so I brought it back. Magic!'”
The days of missing out on roles due to their hair may be long gone after Halle was tapped last year for the starring role as Ariel in the upcoming “Little Mermaid” live-action Disney film. Check out below the full interview featuring Tina Lawson and Chloe x Halle as they talk music, quarantining, and more.
