Chloe x Halle Reveal Why They Feel ‘Hopeful’ Despite ‘Overwhelming’ 2 Weeks Since George Floyd’s Death

R&B duo Chloe x Halle have opened up about the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the country, and why they still feel ‘hopeful’.

R&B duo Chloe x Halle postponed the release of their second album Ungodly Hour in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, and have now spoken out about the past two “overwhelming” weeks. The pair, who are also sisters, made the decision to delay their album drop in the wake of George Floyd‘s tragic death at the hands of police. “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 Bailey, 21, said during a TIME 100 Talks discussion.

She added, “These past two weeks have been very overwhelming; we’ve been hurting, we’ve been in pain. But we’re also very hopeful, 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.”

The pair have been mentored by Beyonce, who signed them as teenagers, and she’s continued to be an inspiration because of “how hard she works, how powerful she is, and how confident she is in her worth and her self,” Halle, 20, explained. “It’s a reminder: I have the power in me, you have the power in you, we can do that too.”

When they aren’t working with Queen Bey, or appearing on the cover of Teen Vogue, the sisters have been watching reality TV, soaking up the sun, and turning to music while in quarantine. “That’s immediately what we run to. So during these past few weeks, of course, that has been the number one thing,” Halle said.

They also talked to TIME about self-care, and taking breaks from Instagram during these unprecedented time. “It’s O.K. to take breaks from social media. Especially for our Black brothers and sisters: it’s traumatizing, some of the videos that you see. It’s O.K. to just step away, meditate, have prayer, turn to music, turn to healing, turn to some art form that brings you peace,” Halle said. “We truly believe music is a healer, and we hope that’s what our album can do for anyone who’s still feeling icky inside, and upset, and angry. For the 45 minutes that the album is, we hope our album can be a release, in a way,” Chloe said.