Artist Research: Halsey
As one of our possible choice artists, I did some research on Halsey and her style of music including how she presents herself as a text.
Halsey is Brooklyn born Ashley Frangipane, who originally started out on YouTube and Tumblr posting covers of songs. She was most notably known for doing a parody of Taylor Swift's I knew you were trouble in 2012. She was found by a producer and they created her first single Ghost which started on Soundcloud which quickly gained popularity. She was contracted by multiple record labels and signed with Astralwerks as she felt it gave her more freedom in her creative rights.
Her first EP was Room 93 in 2014 which gained her several opportunities in headlining and opening for bigger artists.
Her following first debut album BADLANDS was released in 2015 and is classified as part of the Electropop genre. Halsey co-wrote all of the songs on the album, creating a dystopian society that she used as a metaphor for her mental state at the time. She released four songs from the album as singles (Colors, New Americana, Ghost, Castle), all certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her single Castle was also adapted for the soundtrack to the film The Huntsman: Winter's War.
Before her next album, Halsey collaborated with several well known artists including Justin Bieber and The Chainsmokers. The Chainsmokers collaboration resulted in Closer which became one of the most successful singles of the year [2016] and was both acts' first song in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was also nominated for a Grammy award under best Duo performance.
In 2017 she released the single Not Afraid Anymore for the soundtrack of Fifty Shades Darker. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom was her next album released this year [2017] and continues the dystopian idea of a sci-fi twist on the classic story of Romeo and Juliet. She released Now or Never and Strangers before the album as promotional singles. Halsey collaborated with Lauren Jauregui (Fifth Harmony) on Strangers, making it the first duet about a relationship between two women, sung by two mainstream female artists.
