Halle Alice showcases her impressive vocal capabilities on the track “Kehlani”. Halle’s true diva style is on full display; the sultry track allows Halle to demonstrate her vocal range, hitting impeccable high notes, flawless whistle notes that float effortlessly in the back ground, and the fast staccato verses flow with ease. There are very few female artists that have showcased this vocal ability; Whitney Houston being one and Mariah Carry the other, both with an impressive five octave range, Halle has clearly demonstrated she is one of the few! Halle’s angelic voice paired with the smooth R&B/Hip Hop beats is a recipe for a hit track!
Halle grew up in Mid-City Los Angeles where she developed her singing/songwriting craft, navigating everyday life as a growing woman of color. This young artist keeps her song rewrites to a minimum, living in the moment, recording a collection of her thoughts and emotions in real time. Halle’s faith driven music echoes a clear and purposeful message in hopes to inspire youth and women of color like her. Get to know Halle Alice better and stream “Kehlani” today.
Listen to "Kehlani" here and get to know more about Halle Alice below!
Hi Halle! Thank you for speaking to us. Can you tell us what it was like growing up in Mid-City Los Angeles and how you got into making music.
Well, my family has also always kind of lived in this neighborhood. My grandparents moved here in like the 70s, so they’re really LA natives. A lot of the music I grew up with was stuff that my parents listened to or that I danced or stepped to found on my own. I would be dance battling on my school play yard and all of sudden have to bust out with whatever moves I had and the songs would always be fresh, fly and new. All types of hip hop. The rhythms of that early 2000’s sound filtering into LA has influenced my current phrasing in my music. My grandpa is also a jazz musician so I grew up with music in my household and got into music really young. I took drum classes and stepping in Leimert Park which was right down the street from my school at the time, Marcus Garvey School, over on Slauson. I also spent my fridays over at LACMA watching my gramp perform a lot when I was a kid. Growing up my mom wanted me to sing cause she was a really great singer. So of course she put in the Angelic Kids choir at West Angeles at like 6 or so which to this day influences my sound a lot. MUch of the music I make is a direct product of some of the best at home Legends and vibes. LA put me on to true 90’s R&B, Rock music, Gospel, that late 90’s/ early 2000’s pop sound. All of that is my favorite. Snoop Dogg to Maroon 5 (who went to my highschool shoutout! haha) to Kendrick [Lamar] ,[2] Pac, heavy Gwen Stefani, heavy love for Jhene Aiko. Just a few LA legends. My little area, mid- city is a cultural hub. YOu have orthodox jews, black families like mine that have been here since the 70’s, newly married interacial gay couples, muslim families, latinx fmailies, everyone. It’s great because it’s just so diverse and centrally located.
You said you keep your song revisions to a minimum. When you initially started writing Kehlani, what were you intentions for the song?
Originally when I got Kehlani, my friend who goes by Sol Sauce, was showing me a bunch of production and he said grab what you want. I heard that beat and just was like “my ex looks like Kehlani”. I don’t know why but I just thought that sentence was funny and it fit over the beat and then I took the beat home and didn’t touch it for like four weeks. Next thing you know Valentine’s day was rolling around and I just wanted to put out music. I was just in the spirit to do it, I hadn’t put something out in over a year. I honestly just wanted to do it as a gift to myself, so I sat down and I just wrote Kehlani. It took me start to finish maybe about an hour to write and I recorded it that day and had it sent to get mixed like the day after. Mind you this is like 6 days before it got put it out. I just called my manager and was like I just wanna put something out. She goes “ahhhh… Ok.” and we started planning. Writing that was just me really saying what I felt. I was thinking about my growth at that time, and trying to figure out if I would be dating through the next steps of this my process. I need to focus inward and on my grind most of the time haha. But I was definitely pressed about ever finding a pattern, which is so silly because I’m 20. “Kehlani” was also kind of my conclusion that my type, what I’m instantly attracted to is not necessarily what is best for me because I haven't reached my best self that would really know what is best for me. Until I reach that part of myself I need to remove myself from anything that is not already in my calling, because I’ve been finding that a lot of things, situations and people are not for me. To anyone who hears my single “Kehlani”, I hope it brings you gratification, clarity and awakening. Hopefully with the music I’ll be releasing will inspire some thought provoking revelations. I really just want to get the people thinking, especially my younger generations.
How does it feel when you finish a song and are left with the final product?
I never really feel like I’m done working on a song because I’m always ready to change little things about the song, I’m always tweaking the details. Even when I release a song, like the two latest singles, I’m always thinking about the performance and the longevity of each of these songs, and the life that they carry.
Who are some artists that inspire you and affect your style?
When I first started writing music my mother would also say make sure it can be performed live so I’ve always associated live performance with top level artistry. Live performing embodies the ultimate connection between artist and listener. Can my style of story telling be told in person right now? Thats what I ask myself and honestly, it absolutely has an affect on how I write and deliver the song. I want to always make music that can be performed in a club, festival, and stadium. Some artists that have inspired me in this way… there are many people to be honest but when I think about the impact and art of live musical performance in this day I think about artists like Beyonce. Other artists that inspire me because of how they connect with their audience are Janet Jackson, Kehlani, Diana Ross, Jill Scott, Travis Scott. I hope that no matter what I am singing, I hope it has that feeling that sweeps you off your feet that delivers with fire energy in my performances. I just hope to have that open mic feeling in a stadium presence where my audience feels like I’m just up close talking to them and we are vibin at a house party
What can we hope to see from you moving forward?
Moving forward you can expect to hear a lot of variety, experimentation, collaboration, and a lot of reflection. And I think that people should get ready to think about the way we view artists and artistry more. You can expect to hear my black voice. The way that we view the voice of the black artist and the impact that we as creators have, will keep evolving but I plan to use my voice as much as I can while I have it because I’m a black woman first and I have many things to say for myself. Ya know? I hope people also realize that I will be using my voice to enact change and make a difference and to not be afraid of question me, question policy, question this world and to really dive into the music and dissect what I am saying because every time I jump on the track I’m going to say something to you and that’s really it. So expect to really fall in love with this real music shit because I hope to fall in love with each and every person that decides to share in this journey with me.
Connect with Halle Alice on social media:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/hallealice
Twitter: @hallealicee