At Refinery29's NewFronts presentation this week, R&B singing sister duo Chloe x Halle crooned the lyrics, "I'm not gonna dumb down my mind for you," in front of a swaying crowd of (mostly!) women at New York's Terminal 5. As soon as they hit the stage, the Beyoncé-signed artists had the entire concert venue singing along to "Simple," and they say it's no coincidence they chose this particular tune for the event's theme: Our Party Is Women.
"Refinery29 is so empowering to young women...so we were like yaaass, it’s so wonderful, it’s a no brainer, to be here," Chloe told us before the show began. "The lyric [in our song] is just saying that, 'I am not going to lower my standards, I’m not going to hide my strength and my brains and my beauty, just to fit someone else’s standards, I’m going to shine my light as bright as I possibly can.' Because honestly, that’s what makes the world go round, that’s what changes the world for the better...women who will step out and be different and be who they are and don’t compromise that for anyone."
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Halle adds that in order for young women to have the kind of confidence the sisters talk about in their song, they need role models in their age range.
"Women need to hear those messages so they can have the confidence to not be afraid of their ideals and be able to stand up for themselves and say, 'You know, I have something to put out there.' That’s why they need to see people like Yara [Shahidi], and hopefully us, just to raise them up and remind them that we can be confident."
Of course, we couldn't help but ask the 19- and 17-year-old Parkwood signees their reaction to the news that their boss lady (that would be Mama Bey, of course) is expecting not just one, but two new additions to her family very shortly.
"We just are so excited for her!" says Halle. "We love her so much. She’s already an amazing woman!"
The two also revealed that they are working on an official album this year. Fingers crossed on a release date soon — but until then, you can check out Chloe x Halle's carefree, soaring new mixtape the two of us (which they note is not an album, and not technically a mixtape, either) at chloeandhalle.com.