Singer and actress Chloe Bailey is the latest cover star for HelloBeautiful magazine, and in her cover story, she shared some intimate thoughts about her experience recording her new album in St. Lucia. Bailey, 26, went to the Caribbean island nation to record Trouble in Paradise. While there, the singer said she found solace, acceptance, and creativity in the Eastern Caribbean locale. Her sophomore album was released on August 9.
“I can walk around with no makeup, I can walk around loving my body, I can go to the ocean, truly just pray to God and thank him for the blessings that I have,” she said during the interview.
“And it reminds me that life isn’t all about what my career is. It’s not about outer validation but the inner peace. I just really wanted people to feel the peace and the love that this place has brought me, where it was able to open up my creative mind and my creative spirit to literally write my troubles away in paradise. And the album feels like what a summer fling feels like, the back and forth of it, the highs, the lows, the love.”
The singer has been on quite the journey to self-discovery since becoming a solo artist. Her rise to fame started out with being one half of a group with her sister Halle Bailey. The two used to post covers of hit songs on YouTube when they were young.
Chloe, who recently turned 26, told HelloBeautiful that she wants to continue her self-love journey at this new age.
“So this year I want to be more at peace and more disciplined with my emotions,” she said.
“That’s my goal for this year, and it’s already been off to a great start where I’m learning so much about myself, where I’m learning the power of not revealing everything all the time, keeping some things to myself. Not everybody deserves access to your thoughts, your dreams, your aspirations, your inner thoughts, or even your emotions.”
The singer also expressed her enjoyment of being an auntie to her nephew Halo and expressed her hesitation about starting a family of her own.
“Sometimes we get pressured by society. I just turned 26, and sometimes they’re like, ‘You have to settle down and have kids and do that,'” she said. “But I’m like, I can have a little bit more time because I have the best nephew in the world, and it’s like I get the best of both worlds.”