Two of music’s brightest stars shone brightly during the BET Awards. Chloe x Halle, fresh off releasing their critically-acclaimed sophomore album, rocked the show with a double-dose of excellence.
Though Chloe x Halle’s new record is called Ungodly Hour, their appearance at the 2020 BET Awards was nothing short of divine. The sister act — Chloe Bailey, 21, and Halle Bailey, 20 – appeared remotely during the June 28 event, but the power in their voices made it feel as if they were in everyone’s living room. Performing their songs “Forgive M” and “Do It,” the sisters shone with their performance. Starting off in black for “Forgive Me,” they then flipped the script, changing into a pair of heavenly white outfits for “Do It.”
Chloe x Halle’s performance comes after the release of Ungodly Hour, their highly anticipated follow up album to their debut album, 2018’s The Kids Are Alright. The wait was apparently worth it since Ungodly Hour arrived to predominantly positive reviews from critics. “There’s a moving sense of strength through togetherness on the whole album,” wrote Rolling Stones’ Jon Dolan, “in the way their voices agilely glide through the songs but always end up finding each other, locking together in tough, sensitive, affirming unison a la the classic girl groups of the Sixties, turning their emerging personal growth into a shared story. ‘Do it for the girls,’ they demand on ‘Baby Girl.’ They did it.” It also landed on Rolling Stones’ “The 50 Best Albums of 2020 So Far.”
The album was initially scheduled for a June 5 release, but they pushed the album back by a week out of respect for the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. ““It wasn’t right; we didn’t want the attention on us. We wanted to shine a light on what matters the most to us at this time,” Chloe said during a TIME 100 Talks. ““These past two weeks have been very overwhelming; we’ve been hurting, we’ve been in pain.”
“But we’re also very hopeful,” she added, “because our peers are raising our voices, and we’re letting ourselves be heard and not backing down and taking no for an answer. The injustices have been going on for a very, very long time, but I’m happy now the entire world is paying attention.”
Chloe x Halle was nominated for Best Group at the 2020 BET Awards. They were previously nominated for Best Group and the BET HER award at the 2018 ceremony. Unfortunately, they lost to Migos and Mary J. Blige, respectively.