Halle Abadi Affirms Positive Manifestations and Self-Love in “CLEO”
Songstress Halle Abadi interlaces affirming messages of self-love and empowerment into rich, dark-pop influenced soundscapes. In “CLEO,” Abadi fully steps into her power and proclaims that she doesn’t need a man, she should be treated like a queen and she’s worth more than the gold that is around her neck. “Bow down to me,” she sings as her energy leaves an impression and radiates like Queen Cleopatra.
For the rising pop sensation, empowering herself and falling in love with her own energy is something that came naturally and translated itself into her music that is immersed in positive affirmations that scream “goddess energy only.” Abadi knows her worth and isn’t afraid to show it. Pulling from unapologetic queens like Nicki Minaj and Amy Winehouse, Abadi has always gravitated towards self-assured and bold female vocalists, which is heard in her songs like “CLEO,” “BOYTOY” and “FLIRT.”
“I love the bridge, I honestly think that's the best part of the song,” Abadi says. “Lyrically, it's super affirming. I love that the first lyric is, ‘I don’t need to make an entrance / Already got their attention.’ I love that. I think it’s just very empowering and you’re sure of yourself and I love that energy.”
Abadi’s affirmations can remind listeners to show up for themselves and be in tune with their feelings.
“If I feel like my boundaries are being crossed, if I’m feeling like I’m disrespected, I’m going to make that known and I’m going to set a boundary and I am going to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Abadi says. “I'm going to cut off access and that’s how I show self-love to myself because I feel like as women, we’re expected to just be there and be compliant and nice and understanding and like, ‘oh it’s okay.’ I don’t play that shit. I’m not going to do that. I’m finally at a point where I know what feels right to me and I know what I’m going to tolerate. My idea of self-love is setting those boundaries and being very firm in those.”
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. What inspires your creative persona and artistic style?
[HALLE]: I think a lot of it comes from my own personal life, so a lot of the things that I write about are just super personal to me, like things that I go through, people I see. A lot of it is very true to me and especially in my dating endeavors, I feel like I pull a lot from that and I just jot whatever I have down in my notes and go from there and try to create concepts out of that when I get into the studio.
[UNPUBLISHED]: With this new era of music you've been releasing, it's just all about empowerment and self-love. Your latest single “CLEO” touches on the theme. What was the inspiration behind the single?
[HALLE]: The inspiration behind “CLEO,” again, it's very true to me. I don't even try to do self empowering stuff. It's just kind of how I am. I wrote it with two of my really good friends. Natania and Miranda are such great songwriters. I think we just wanted something that people listened to and felt kind of reaffirmed of who they were in their own power, which is cool, because that's the response that I've been getting from that song. I see all the comments and dms and that's what we've been getting which is great to see that it translates.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I would love to know more about the creative process behind “CLEO.”
[HALLE]: I wrote that like a year ago. I've been sitting on it for a while and we literally just got on a zoom and wrote it there and then I recorded it. We wrote it in an hour over zoom, super easy. We got the beat from David Arkwright, who's an amazing producer. I was looking for something a little bit more
with Middle Eastern elements. We quickly wrote that and then recorded it a couple months later in Miami on my 21st birthday.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How has the response been from friends and listeners?
[HALLE]: The response from listeners has been really on par with the kind of reaction that I want that song to have. Majority of my responses are very positive. There's also this very interesting segment of men who are very offended by certain things and I'm like, ‘why are you offended?’ I like to clap back sometimes, and I'm surprised it's not worth my energy. Every time I see a comment, like on YouTube or TikTok, everyone has been saying it makes them feel good about themselves and they love how all my songs make them feel super empowered and that’s great. I love to hear that because that’s what music does for me, so the fact that I can give that feeling back a little bit to some people means a lot to me.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Where do you think is the best environment to listen to “CLEO?”
[HALLE]: Someone said they and their girlfriends would blast “CLEO” in the car when they were going out. I think it’s the best going out song to really affirm yourself. I think that whenever you need that lift, I feel it is the perfect time to listen to it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is your favorite aspect about “CLEO?” Is there a certain lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
[HALLE]: I love the bridge, I honestly think that's the best part of the song. We wrote the bridge way later. I think we wrote it just a couple of months ago, and I think melodically it feels a lot different. I think it's cooler honestly. Lyrically, it's super affirming. I love that the first lyric is, “I don’t need to make an entrance / Already got their attention.” I love that. I think it’s just very empowering and you’re sure of yourself and I love that energy.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “CLEO” obviously touches on independence and self-love through an empowering lens. What are some ways you show self love to yourself?
[HALLE]: I think my idea of self-love is like yes, the self care things are super important, but the number one way I show up from myself is being very in tune with how I feel, how certain things make me feel. I'm very like, I'm gonna speak my mind no matter what. I was just dealing with a situation earlier, and if I feel like my boundaries are being crossed, if I’m feeling like I’m disrespected, I’m going to make that known and I’m going to set a boundary and I am going to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I'm going to cut off access and that’s how I show self-love to myself because I feel like as women, we’re expected to just be there and be compliant and nice and understanding and like, ‘oh it’s okay.’ I don’t play that shit. I’m not going to do that. I’m finally at a point where I know what feels right to me and I know what I’m going to tolerate. My idea of self-love is setting those boundaries and being very firm in those.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is some advice you would give to listeners in terms of leaning into your own love or just establishing strong boundaries for yourself?
[HALLE]: I would say get to know yourself. Spend a lot of time with yourself and spend time alone. I think it's easy to get caught up always being around other people and their energies and like that's good, but if you're finding it's hard to spend time with yourself, you kind of have to ask yourself why? Take yourself out on dates, get to know yourself, talk to yourself, it seems insane, but I really feel like that's the best way to really get to know you, and then I feel like once you know yourself when you have that understanding, you can move forward and feel more confident about asserting who you are.
[UNPUBLISHED]: When you take yourself out on dates, what do you like to do?
[HALLE]: I like to go out to eat by myself. I think it's really fun because I love to people watch. I'm into weightlifting, so I like to go lift weights by myself and then go eat by myself after that. I think it's really fun. That's like my self care ritual.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are some artists that inspire you, either lyrically or instrumentally?
[HALLE]: So many. I love Amy Winehouse. I think tonally, she is just so unique. I think she's just one of a kind so I really look up to her. There's never gonna be another one of that. Rihanna is a huge inspiration. Nicki Minaj is when I'm feeling stuck and I need inspiration, especially recently. I just look up Nicki Minaj verses to reinspire me because I love her. I've loved her since I was 11. She’s truly such a queen and I just gravitate towards strong female voices, whether that’s lyrically or vocally.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How has your sound evolved from when you first started making music and how do you see it evolving into new, future eras of your music?
[HALLE]: I think when I first started, I was very experimental. I took a lot of those songs down but some of them were very dark-pop and a little bit more R&B leaning because I love the genre as well. I'm really getting to a point, which is why it's interesting to do this interview because I feel like I'm in no place to be speaking because I want to grow, and not to say I don't love the music I'm doing, like I want to be in love with it. I feel like that takes a certain level of time, commitment and trial and error. So I think going forward, I want my music to be more comprehensive and show more of my vulnerable side because I feel like that's super important. I want to build out the dimensions of my demos and I’m excited to put my stuff out there and to make sure it’s not just one dimensional.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Unpublished Magazine?
[HALLE]: I feel like I haven't even started. I really feel like I haven't even started my career, if I'm lucky enough to have a longstanding one. I feel like I'm just excited to keep putting stuff out there and keep elevating the music and the content as well because I use TikTok as my main marketing platform. Keeping everything elevated and finding myself more as an artist and how I want to come across is super important. I’m also a full-time student as well and I graduate in May. After that I'm going to take time to delve more into that and focus solely on music because school is a whole other thing right now.
