We love Halsey and their music. Anytime we get new music from them we are all over it. We’re still blasting their fourth album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since it released and now, we have a new track from Halsey that we can obsess over.
The track titled ‘So Good’ is a love song that details the story of how she and their partner Alev Aydin came to be in a relationship. Who doesn’t love a good love story especially in song form? The song which was produced by Max Martin and Tobias Karlsson was released on Thursday with an accompanying music video the very next day. We’re truly loving it and it’s been stuck in our heads since it released.
So Good is well, so good (the pun couldn’t be helped, okay?) which is why we can’t understand why there was so much drama surrounding the release. Back in May, Halsey took to their TikTok to inform their fans that their record label was keeping them from being able to release the song because they were looking for a viral moment.
In their TikTok the singer had this to say: “Basically, I have a song that I love that I wanna release ASAP but my record label wont’ let me. I’ve been in this industry for 8 years and I’ve sold over 165 million records and my record company is saying that I can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on tiktok. She went on to say “Everything is marketing, and they are doing this to basically every artist these days. I just wanna release music, man. And I deserve better tbh. I’m tired.”
Yes, we think that this is extremely ridiculous because Halsey is a musician first with tons of fans who could give a shit about a viral moment. She doesn’t have to get on TikTok to be recognized.
That’s not to say we are bashing anyone who has gotten famous or whatever because of TikTok. What we are saying is, someone like Halsey who has been in this industry for years and has amassed a multitude of accolades, shouldn’t have to do all this unnecessary marketing to be seen.
We also are not saying that artists don’t have to market themselves. We know marketing is a big part of their jobs and how they bring more fans. But why is creating fake viral moments the only thing that seems to be the priority? What happened to the days when artists could just simply be artists doing things on their own terms? Look, we get that social media is ever-changing and people have to adapt but that should not be the deciding factor for whether or not they can release their art.
Now, some people thought what Halsey said was complete bullshit because that’s the way the world of social media is. Everyone’s got an opinion on a subject they know nothing about. Halsey posted another TikTok afterwards letting people know that she was in fact not kidding about what their label wanted. The singer also went live to go into more detail about the situation.
Even after all of that people still accused them of making a fake viral moment by posting that their label wouldn’t let So Good come out. If anyone has been following Halsey for years like we have, you should know that they are very intentional about everything they do.
We’re sure that they were doing what the label was asking for but, they did it in their way. They took that moment and pulled control by basically saying “okay, you want me to do some TikToks to go viral, well here ya go.” Instead of faking a viral moment, they used their platform to tell their fans what the situation was. Obviously, it worked.
On May 31st, Halsey once again took to TikTok to let everyone know that they would finally be releasing So Good on June 9th with a music video to follow.
We can honestly say, despite all that drama, it was worth the wait. The music video was directed by Halsey’s partner Alev Aydin and beautifully showcases how they met and fell in love. It also features some adorable moments with their child Ender.
Check out the music video for So Good below.
