Welcome back to this edition of the Wichitan’s Song of the Week. In celebration of Black History Month, this week’s pick is “Angel” by American R&B singer Halle. Released Aug. 4, 2023 as her first ever studio single, “Angel” is an expression of Halle’s love for her blackness. In the song, she sings about the perils of growing up as a black girl and even existing as an adult.
She narrates the struggles and frustrations that come with being black in a society that claims to be progressive but is not. She based a majority of the lyrics in the song on real life affirmations that she had to tell herself following negative criticism to the announcement of her portrayal of Ariel in the live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.” Halle originally thought of the song but didn’t plan on releasing it until after she shared a teaser of the song on her Instagram on December 31, 2022, and it received a great deal of positive feedback.
Born in Atlanta, Halle Lynn Bailey, simply known as Halle, is an American R&B singer-songwriter and actress best known for her performances in award-nominated and award-winning movies and TV shows like “The Color Purple”, “The Little Mermaid”, “Grown-ish” and more. At the very young age of three, Halle started her acting career with her dad putting her in commercials and TV shows. By the time she was 12, she had a successful acting career after her performance in projects like “Joyful Noise” and “Let It Shine.”
After moving to Los Angeles in 2012, Halle and her older sister, Chloe created a YouTube channel and the soon-to-be-popular music duo, Chloe x Halle. On this YouTube channel, the duo would do covers of popular music, especially Beyoncé. After many hits and television and talk show appearances, the duo signed with Parkwood Entertainment (founded by Beyoncé) following a long legal case by the Manhattan Supreme Court.
After much success as the duo Chloe x Halle, Halle decided to begin her career as a soloist starting with Disney’s announcement of her portrayal of Ariel in the live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.” Following the announcement was a huge wave of backlash against Halle (an African American woman) portraying Ariel and how it was not true to the original character. Director Rob Marshall confronted the backlash, stating Halle’s audition was everything he was looking for in Ariel. He added that her singing brought him to tears and that she possessed the “spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance” of the character.
After the release of the movie, Halle released “Angel” in response to those backlashes.
“Angel” is my favorite song from Halle’s entire discography. In “Angel” Halle tells the struggles she underwent during the pre and postproduction of the live-action movie. After Disney’s announcement of the movie’s cast list and Halle’s role as Ariel, the internet responded poorly. Comments about Halle and her background as an African American were brought up with people calling her unfit for the role of Ariel as the character is white in the 1989 animated movie.
Halle was getting bullied on social media and there were talks of boycotting the movie. In light of this, Disney supported Halle by releasing an official statement stating that Ariel is first and foremost a mermaid and therefore has no specific race and if that was a problem, then the movie probably is not for you.
On the other side of this, many people took the news of Halle portraying Ariel amazingly. Videos of little black girls smiling and laughing while watching the trailer for the movie went viral. The movie brought many minority communities together, especially to go watch the movie during the talks of boycotts.
Following this experience, Halle wrote and released the song, not just to be a testament to the way the world treated her but also as a reminder to the billions of black girls that no matter what they are angels. She reminds black girls that even though the world doesn’t see them as angels, they are. She sings that people will always point out their flaws and try to keep them caged in their mind, but they should always remember that “angels make their way somehow.”
As stated in previous editions of the Song of the Week, lyricism is an important aspect of any song and Halle understood that when writing “Angel.” In the song, she utilizes personal memories and pathos to narrate her pain and struggles but also her warning and advice. My favorite lyric in the entire song is:
“Some might hate, and they wait on your fall (ah)
They don’t know there’s a grace for it all (all)
My flaws don’t make me.
Beautiful and real are you, they cannot compare, all you.
Perfectly a masterpiece in all of me, even my scars (scars)
Even my scars, yeah”
Expressing feelings through music is a naturally occurring thing for Halle. In “Angel,” she sings about pain, frustration and persecution but also warning, advice and hope. She created a song about loving your black skin. The song is a great listen with a powerful message. I rate it 5 out of 5 mustangs.
