Without Me

Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, whose known to the music world as “Halsey” (which is a reference to Halsey Street Station in Brooklyn in New York as well as an anagram of her first name). Born on the 29th September 1994 in New Jersey. She has influences not only her fans, but also the LGBTQ+ community by coming out as bisexual, the mental health community by opening up about her disorders with her bipolar disorder, as well as the bi-racial community. She’s been active musically since 2014 but rose to notable fame in 2018 with the track “Closer” which she collaborated on with house music duo “The Chainsmokers”, which broke multiple records.

“Without Me” is the latest release from Halsey, stemming from a break up with previous partner rapper G-Eazy, where it was revealed he had been cheating on her by sending inappropriate texts to other women that she found out from the media frenzy it caused, rather than from him directly (which she references in the song in the bridge: “You don’t have to say just what you did / I already know / I had to go and find out from them / So tell me, how’s it feel?”). When the song was released, Halsey openly stated on Zane Lowe’s “World Record” show on Beats 1 Radio that the single was never going to be a part of a future album, but a “stand-alone record”. She also openly admitted that it was the first time she was singing as Ashley and not as Halsey, unlike her past albums and records. “Without Me” openly tells the story of Halsey’s struggles with her relationship with G-Eazy and his addiction problems (“Found you when your heart was broke / I filled your cup until it overflowed”) and how she felt that she was taken advantage of and used and how he no longer needed her once he was in a better place. “I cried the whole time I recorded it. But now I feel proud. And empowered.”, she responded to a tweet from a fan when she was asked how the song made her feel.

The music video was directed by Colin Tiley, and essentially tells the story of Halsey and G-Eazy’s relationship, and how she was badly mistreated in it. The male protagonist looks extremely similar to G-Eazy, and shows him and Halsey in bars getting drunk, fighting and essentially using alcohol to forget and mask the more serious issues of their relationship – this could be a reference to G-Eazy’s previously discussed drug dependency issues. The video shows their fights, Halsey looking after her lover, and ultimately ends with him being arrested at a bar and Halsey pretending to as well, but showing him that she was in fact not – and that she is in fact far better without him. The video was released on 29th October 2018 and has over 19 million views, and is an incredibly accurate and realistic video about emotionally and mentally abusive relationships that has received very positive feedback.

Release Date: 4th October 2018

Songwriter/s: Halsey, Delacey, Louis Bell, Amy Allen & Scott Storch

Genre: Electropop / Synth-Pop

Record Label/s: Astralwerks, Capitol, Virgin EMI

Music Video Release Date: 29th October 2018

Music Video Director: Colin Tiley

Chart Rankings: Gold certification in Australia and Canada, #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles. Also reached #3 in Greece and Australia, and is still in the Spotify Global Charts weeks after release.