chloe and halle's "ungodly hour" is all about disrupting yourself or die trying

so, if we're going to keep it real, i wasn't a big fan of chloe and halle's debut, the kids are alright. i thought it was frankly that: alright. it was a very good debut for two teens just making it out in the music industry. it has this sort of youthful, coming-of-age, flair that made it enjoyable and ambitious, but also very forgettable, in terms of everything else that came out in 2018 (sweetener, invasion of privacy, dirty computer, negro swan, isolation, the list goes on-and-on). again, this isn't to say that it wasn't good because it was and still is! it's an album that showcases the very things that got the girls noticed in the first place: their ability to harmonize, synchronize and do the damn the thing without losing each other in the progress. they work together and they work well. 

 

when the two sisters started their career as musicians, they were uploading youtube covers (all of which are still on their channel). after a cover of beyonce's pretty hurts went viral, they were signed to beyonce's very own parkwood label, which is a feat in itself as that label literally only has like 4 artists signed to it (INCLUDING BEYONCE HERSELF). and when the kids are alright came out they were merely teens and much like the album title states, despite the newfound fame, despite being thrust in the limelight, they were alright.  however, instead of lamenting about being conflicted with it all, or being afraid of it, they kept it real.

 

 they talked about real world problems that everyday people can relate to like heartbreak and learning how to affirm yourself in a world that is trying to keep you down. its an entire album about self-discovery and feeling "grown" in a grown up world when you're still just a child yourself. its about faking it till you make it and coming out better because of it, not in spite of it, like most people will tell you.

imposter syndrome is unfortunately a generational experience that millennials know all to well. we grew up in a world that told us we would be fine and alright, but did not give us the tools that we would need to do so. they chided us and told us that if we worked hard, got good grades and did the "best", we would succeed, but we all know now those were lies. being the best is never enough. being yourself is sometimes also never enough. and now we're trying to find a balance between the two while working two jobs, busing ass for the futures that were promised to us if we made good grades and played nice with our peers. its messed up, but once you learn that is how the world is, it makes it easier to learn how to survive.

 

and while that doesn't mean that the album succeeds at everything that it does, when you take a look at their newest feat, ungodly hour, you can see that the girls are no longer just "alright". they're doing quite well and even though there is still a long way to go, they have a better idea of what they want and moreover, what they don't.

 

ungodly hour is not just a step-up in the girls' lyrical and production work. its a step-up in how they look at the world. there's aggression. there's pain. there's conviction. where the kids are alright reveled in the journey towards self-discovery and how the affirmation you get from others affect that, ungodly hour is the embodiment of what it means when you've found that place and are making it by yourself and for yourself. there's talk of getting late-night dick pics, of being a side-chick, of feeling like your head is going to explode sometimes when there's too much to handle, of being done dirty and literally just wanting the person who hurt you to just die. there's a specificity and there's a relatability this time around that the kids are alright lacked. and its what makes this album so great.

 

a lot of album reviews and whatnot talk about this album being the girls' turning back on their innocence and shedding it gracefully and whatnot, but i don't think that's exactly the case. i think this has a lot more to do with really understanding and reflecting on what that innocence looked like then and what it looks like now. i don't think having sex, or drinking and going to parties suddenly makes you less innocence. i think that doing those things redirects your innocence to other areas of your personality. because who are those party animals when they go to bed at night? who are they when they cry? who are they when leave the party? people are multifacted and this album serves to explore how that works. songs like "do it" (which is just a up-tempo, party banger about getting ready to go out) or "busy boy" (a funky r&b romp about being played by a dude) could not work without songs like "lonely" or "i wonder what she thinks of me" which are both songs that encapsulate how it feels to come home alone from a night out with no one to curl up next to. 

 

is it a bit dusty? yes, but, we live and learn. or we send a "U UP" text to someone who really doesn't deserve it.

 

most people tend to equate innocence to gullibility and naiveté. there's often a judgement to it and that is why most people see growing up as the time in which people should "shed their innocence" to see the world for how it really is. its less about growth and more like a punishment for something that's not really a person's fault. the world being cold and gross and terrible is not anyone fault, but we all have to live with it. we have to figure out how to survive, right? a person's innocence is not the reason why it may be hard for them to figure out how the world really works. its the people who have shied them away from the world to protect that innocence. what happens when a person has to grow up in a world where they only know how to be innocent? when they haven't been able to use any other parts to themselves except how to be innocent and sweet? they reject it. because they now know the world for what it is, they're hurt no one prepared them for it and now they have to learn all these skills to survive and its now 100x harder because the world is also 100x worse now. innocence doesn't go anywhere when your older, it is just merely one of all of the other parts of a person and there's power coming to understand all the different parts of yourself, even when people doubt you. ungodly hour is a testament to that. 

 

i will use "tipsy" as an example. "tipsy" is a playful song that toys with the idea of killing someone that broke your heart. they threaten to literally hunt down this person's family after, key their car, after putting this this person "in the ground," but these ideas are sort of drowned out from under these sweet, other-worldly vocals and a sort of Lizzo-esque aura that sort of make you miss what's happening if your not paying attention. the songs even starts with a bit of the same heavenly harmony that takes you out of the moment right before you're sort of thrown back by the first beat that leads into the first few lines of the song that talks of them being "crucified" and "charged with murder." that's the effect innocence can have on you when you undermine it. it can kill you.

 

but, again, while "tipsy" is more a warning, songs like "overwhelmed" and "lonely" go to show even knowing this sometimes isn't enough. sometimes you feel like you have it all together all the time, but no one actually has it together all the time. 

    "i don't do well under pressure/ i don't know it all / i wish i had all the answers / fix     it all myself / i feel overwhelmed"

 

being self-assured and confident is one thing, but it is not the only thing. there are other things to consider about the human existence, like self-doubt, loneliness and (sometimes) the opinions of others, but, again, those are also not the only things to consider about yourself. you've got to look at the whole picture. people are not one dimensional and the human existence is not mutually exclusive to being "this way" or "that way." however, that also doesn't give other people the ability to disrespect you or treat you badly because they're also growing.

 

if someone does you dirty, they've done you dirty. does it say something about who they are? yes. absolutely. 

 

does that make them a bad person? most likely, but you know, if there's one thing about trash people is that they're going to BE trash people.

will they change? do they have the capability to change. who knows. maybe?

 

all you can do is either continue to take the behavior or you can leave. no one is ever asking someone to apologize for who they are. if they wanna be a a trash person, that's who they are and that's fine for THEM, but not for YOU, unless you're giving them permission to do so. the intro to this album talks of not asking for "permission", but for "forgiveness" and i think that says a lot about what it means about being yourself.

don't give people permission to disrespect you and move on without consideration for you. demand an apology (which you may or may not forgive - up to you) or demand that they leave you alone. 

 

don't ask for permission to be yourself, simply be yourself, align yourself with people who also agree with you and ask for the forgiveness of those who don't. or tell them to "fuck off." there's too much to do in this crazy world and so much reflecting and growth that needs to be done to remain stuck on people who are to focused on themselves to have consideration for you. 

 

in ungodly hour, chloe and halle have taken a moment to explore, reflect and even disrupt the dynamics of who they are as young Black women and how people choose to perceive them, and they challenge you to do this as well, because unfortunately, that's all we've got. either disrupt yourself or, at the least, die trying.