It’s been less than a year since Halsey released her defiant fourth album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. The project arrived a year and a half after her third album Manic and it came complete with 13 songs, no guest features, and songwriting from Ashley Frangipane Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Johnathan Cunningham. Months after If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power was released, Halsey would land the third Grammy nomination of her career with a selection in the Best Alternative Music Album category. While the album still may be fresh to many, Halsey is ready to release some new music, but her label isn’t making it easy for her according to the singer.
@halsey I’m tired
In a TikTok she recently posted, Halsey spoke about the difficulties she’s having with releasing a new song to the public. “Basically, I have a song that I love that I want to release ASAP, but my record label won’t let me,” reads the text that appears in the video. She later adds, “I’ve been in this industry for eight years and I’ve sold over 165 million records and my record company is saying I can’t release [the song] unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok.”
The irony behind all of this is that Halsey might secure the viral moment that her label is looking for with the TikTok video. Nonetheless, if her accusations are true, it’s unfortunate that a viral moment — which isn’t easy to organically create — is required of her to release music.
You can watch Halsey’s TikTok in the video above.