Chloe Bailey claps back at haters.
The “Grown-ish” star, 23, received negative feedback regarding her cover of Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You,” where Twitter users described the performance as too “sexy.”
She Has The Perfect Response
Bailey responded to haters on Monday by tweeting, “I like how you can’t criticize my singing or who i am as an artist, so people find something else to find.”
She added, “that’s a compliment.”
Fans React
lovin you • minnie ripperton 🦋 pic.twitter.com/HTn8ke42NZ
— Chlöe (@ChloeBailey) January 24, 2022
Fans showed support for Bailey who sported a scanty purple crop top and matching skirt while singing the late soul legend’s hit song. Her top had a daring neckline that displayed her ample cleavage and cutouts that exposed more skin. Meanwhile, the lower garment boasted a skintight fit and a slit. The singer accessorized with a pair of hoop earrings and a necklace.
“Exactly! SOMETHING has to be found, don’t cut yourself up into chewable pieces for these dusty streets please,” noted one fan. “If one isn’t a fan of the ‘too much’, they will and must focus on the artists that aren’t doing ‘too much.'”
“Girl you’re talented but this new ratchet thing you’re on is what everyone has a problem with. It ain’t u. Ratchet is fine, but it ain’t u,” added another one.
“I’m soooo freaking happy that you know that. Now they can’t take your power bc u see their weakness and where they r coming from b4 they even know it. Keep winning,” remarked another user.
“EXACTLY! that kind of talent can’t be bought so they have to reach for everything else in sight,” a fourth admirer quipped.
Others Were Still Not Happy
Some others were still not pleased with her retort with one telling her she’s “overselling” her “sex appeal.”
“Extremely talented and beautiful. You know this already,” one commented under Bailey’s post. “However, it seems like you’re trying to oversell something you already have and that’s sex appeal. It’s not even ‘extra’, it’s really cringey. Why? Because you don’t even need to do it.”
“I think you over sexualizing yourself is giving people room to criticize you instead of your talents,” added a second follower. “You actually have talent use that to your advantage. You don’t have to sell sex to be popping. We get you’re grown but is it really necessary. IS IT REALLY YOU ?”
“I’m a stan but this is not it. All these gimmicks come as forced and unnatural tbh.. Imma always support you however you gotta do something so your body language doesn’t seem awkward anymore,” wrote the third one.
It Happened Before
This isn’t the first time the “Have Mercy” songstress has been criticized for a musical cover. Bailey sang Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” on Good Morning America last summer and received similar flak.
However, Simone’s granddaughter ReAnna Simone Kelly defended Bailey from the haters.
“What y’all don’t understand is that grandma was a free spirited woman herself!!” she tweeted at the time. “She would’ve loved that performance as much as I do! Relax. Chloe killed it. #NinaSimone.”
Kelly tweeted one more time and wrote, “Grandma was unapologetically herself. She was a muhhhf—in bada– woman who did what she wanted when she wanted. She was a sexual woman and she expressed that. Educate yourselves !! If grandma could she probably would’ve done that performance herself 😂😂.”
She Has ‘Imposter Syndrome’
In November, Bailey opened up to Refinery29 about her anxiety and “imposter syndrome.”
“Some of the challenges that I’m navigating that no one really sees is that I’m still battling anxiety and I think I have imposter syndrome,” she said, adding, “because no matter what I do, I feel like it’s never good enough.”
She continued, “I’m always trying to beat myself and outdo myself. If I can’t or if there’s like the slightest struggle, I tend to beat myself up.”
Bailey also shared that music is both the cause and cure of her mental distress.
“When I make music, I get out of my head and I stop overthinking and that’s when I feel great. It’s like I’m finding myself through the music, as I’m creating it,” she said.
Dealing With Haters
In December, Bailey got candid with Taraji P. Henson on “Peace of Mind with Taraji” about how she has learned to deal with body-shaming on social media.
“I think there was a collective of them and I can’t sit here and lie and say, ‘Oh, I’m bulletproof, nothing hurt me,’ because it honestly did,” she told the host. “And I think what hurt me the most was when I would see some post saying how I’m doing this for male attention, or I’m just trying to sell sex to get attention for myself.”
