Shadowing Practice: Halsey: 'Without Me' Interview | Apple Music - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Well, you've been on the road now supporting your amazing second album,
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Well, you've been on the road now supporting your amazing second album,
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but it's been a long tour.
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You know, I don't mind it though.
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It's cool.
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I'm gonna go my birthday is at the end of the month.
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Great.
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So I'm gonna go after the tour.
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I'm gonna go spend some time like in Italy.
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Yeah.
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Alone for a while, but it's such a weird time for me because like
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my 20 I'm turning 24
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and I was 19 when I wrote Badlands and it's like I blinked and And it just feels so insane.
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And, you know, it's really interesting to this record because it's going to come right after my 24th birthday.
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This is such a weird thing for me.
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It's so complicated because there's so much to unpack here.
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But the first thing is that,
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like, it's the most raw thing I've ever made and not just because of the content,
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because I make concept albums.
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So I have these comic book universes where I'm playing a fantasy character.
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And each song is protected by the next.
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It all makes sense.
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Yeah, there's like a five part video series and I'm not really myself,
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I'm playing someone else.
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And now this song is not attached to an album.
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It's a standalone record.
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And that's the interesting thing about music is I was supposed to be taking a break
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and then I wrote this song and it's like,
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music doesn't care about your schedule.
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It's like, if the timing's right,
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you need to- Set it free.
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Yeah, you need to put it out.
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And so here I have this record where it's like,
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it's just me, you know,
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no wig, no colorful hair, no character.
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And it's about my life and about my relationship
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that the world has watched so closely and so vehemently in the past year and a half.
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My fans are really going to be like, whoa.
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You know, all the video content,
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everything behind the song is like me.
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It's just me.
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It's like me in a white t-shirt with normal hair,
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just singing to the camera.
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No character, no cinematography, no gunfight,
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car explosion, stuff like I usually do.
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Is this the first song you've ever written as Ashley and not as Horsey?
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I think that's the point.
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Yeah, I think that's what I'm kind of getting at.
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It's not protected by some character or some subplot or some,
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you know what I mean?
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It's like, this is really me talking about my life and letting people.
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I've always...
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It kind of gave me an existential crisis as an artist a little bit, because I've like...
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For so long I've prided myself on being an artist who's authentic and writes about her life and stuff.
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And then when I made this,
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I felt just how bad it hurt.
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So you wondered whether or not you'd even gone there before?
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Yeah!
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And it made me question myself as an artist and be like,
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as an artist and be like,
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have you even been accessing this part of you?
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Here's the good news.
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Every artist I've ever interviewed in my life who's gone there has asked that question of themselves.
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You know, I mean, if you'd gone there right at the very start,
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who knows where you'd be now?
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I mean, you've got to warm up.
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You've got to live a life.
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You were 19 when you started.
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I know.
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You're 24, you're still incredibly young,
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and you've lived a life.
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I mean, you know, debut album, hard work, check.
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Second album, ambitious, concert record, check.
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You know, hustle for your success,
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put in the graph, check public relationship.
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Big check.
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Yeah.
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You know, big check.
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I mean, these are all things you've achieved,
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and so it makes sense that you're going to go ahead and you're going to write this song now,
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because what would you have said before?
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How would you have even gotten this out of your system?
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No, we would have cared.
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That's the most important thing,
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is that now they care.
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And they want to know what's behind the curtain.
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Nah, you are different, man.
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And I've said this so many times.
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No one, I mean, here's a compliment for you.
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I'm irrespective of the writing.
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No one, when it comes to stepping on the microphone to do a take on any song in any situation,
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and I've talked to Benny about this.
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I've talked to PND about this.
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I've talked to anyone who's actually had the guts to step in the room with you.
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When you step in there and take your first statement of your verse,
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it's over for anybody else in the room.
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And Benny's like, oh, she's the greatest.
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The first three seconds of any takes she does,
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the tone she has, it's just forget about it.
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It's done.
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I think it's
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because I don't even put my mouth in front of a microphone until I'm absolutely positive about what I want to say.
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How do you even get there?
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Because a lot of people have to warm up to that.
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You know, I'm just like,
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I think a lot of people,
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there's two ways of looking at it is some people are comfortable improv-ing in the room.
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That means one of two things, and they're opposite things.
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It either means that they're so comfortable with whatever they're making or whatever they're saying,
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they don't care if someone hears them mess up.
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Or it means they're so uncomfortable that they need improv in the room to wait for the person to say,
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that's good, that's good.
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Yeah, they're looking for feedback.
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So it's one or the other.
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It's either that they don't need any validation or they so desperately need validation.
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And I'm like a completely different type of writer where I,
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when I first started writing and people weren't familiar with my work
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or was like my workflow or I hadn't found the people I'm comfortable with yet.
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When I first started writing,
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I would sit in the room and like be in my phone and I could feel like producers being like,
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is she even going to do anything?
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And then I'd leave the room to go smoke a cigarette or do whatever and they'd be like,
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is she even going to do anything?
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You're in the wrong game.
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The patience is the whole point.
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30 minutes later, I'd come back in and I'd sing a whole song,
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top to bottom, and they'd be like,
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when did you write that?
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And I'd be like, when you were wondering if I was ever going to do anything.
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And then I'd come back in and they cut it.
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And so I think what it is is,
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I mean, I think I'm a perfectionist in
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that way where I don't get in front of a mic unless I know what I'm going to say.
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I only have like three demos the world's never heard.
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Most artists have like a hundred.
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And that's because I don't even start a song unless I know I'm going to finish it.
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Wow, interesting.
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So like I've only ever made basically the songs that you've heard.
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No vault.
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No, not really.
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No vault.
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Because I know what I want to make before I make it and I kind of reserve.
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I reserve that instead of trying to like Frankenstein stuff.
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Look, my first message is like,
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you know, you are not bound to anything besides yourself.
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I've said that in 2015 when I put out Hurricane,
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I said, you know, don't belong to no city,
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don't belong to no man.
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That's always been my MO,
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is you don't belong to anybody but yourself.
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And then of course, situations like this complicate things when you love someone almost as much as you love yourself, maybe more.
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Yeah.
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Well, that's what's interesting about that line,
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because when I first heard it,
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I felt like you were talking to him as much as to yourself.
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Yeah.
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And in the past, it's like,
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oh, you're talking to yourself,
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like stand up for who you are
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and don't necessarily put your self-esteem in the hands of any situation is not in your control.
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This time it was almost like a gift as well.
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It was like you were saying,
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it's not about you belonging to me or me belonging to you.
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That's what I took from it.
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100%.
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100%.
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And there's like a double entendre in that as well
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because I think the most important message for me with this is like,
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you know you don't belong to anybody but yourself
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and you know you're not bound to anything that doesn't serve you
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but the second message
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that I want to just remind everyone through this process is
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like we're people we're people you know what I mean like you text your best friend
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and you're like I'm done with them I'm never talking to them ever again
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and then your dumb sorry ass is back hanging out with them again next week too
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and if you're doing it so am I everyone's like you know people don't change people don't and that's not true.
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That's not true.
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And I think that it's especially convoluted when your image of yourself or your perception of yourself,
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look, basic sociology is looking glass self.
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We define ourselves based on how the people around us see us.
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That's how we define ourselves.
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So now imagine if the people around you isn't ten people, it's ten million.
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Yeah, and it's through the eyes and lens of social media which is immediate and direct.
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And the news is fit to print.
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The news is fit to print.
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So now you have this like warped
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idea of who you are because of 10 million strangers who are trying to tell you who they think you are.
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And it's like that completely...
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It's like there's an exception there.
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That's an exception.
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My development of my identity and my self-perception and my higher self and self-awareness,
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I kind of get a pass to experiment with it and to mess up and to figure,
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and so does he and so does everyone else you know you're being fed self-reflection from
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so many different So start Uninformed star says I think it's the only thing that I've experienced in the past couple years
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that made me put my phone down
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and say I don't care what they think
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and I've you know me you've known me for a while now and you know I've beaten myself up
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about what people think about me and about what people think about it and
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so in a weird way like this relationship has been the
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one of the most liberating thing that's ever happened to me
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because it made me put my phone down and go I don't care what you think because this makes me happy
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Why Practice Speaking with This Video?
Practicing with Halsey's interview, part of the "Without Me" segment, provides learners a unique context to develop their speaking skills. Live interviews showcase natural, conversational English, making them perfect for grasping nuances and spontaneous speech patterns. Engaging with this content encourages shadow speak, allowing learners to mimic Halsey's intonations and emotional expressions. These aspects are critical for developing fluency and confidence in speaking.
Additionally, Halsey's personal insights about her music make the dialogue relatable. As she reflects on significant life events, such as turning 24 and releasing raw, personal music, learners can connect with her experiences. This connection can enhance retention and motivation, helping learners to articulate their own thoughts and feelings in English.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
In her conversation, Halsey employs several expressions and grammatical structures worth noting:
- Present Continuous Tense: "I've been on the road now supporting my amazing second album." This structure helps convey ongoing actions and experiences, crucial for discussing current activities.
- Past Simple vs. Present Perfect: "I was 19 when I wrote Badlands" versus "I blinked and it just feels so insane." This contrast highlights the difference between completed actions and their relevance to the present.
- Descriptive Language: "It's the most raw thing I've ever made." Utilizing words like "raw" adds depth to her description and encourages learners to broaden their vocabulary in creative contexts.
- Future Intentions: "I'm gonna go spend some time like in Italy." This colloquial expression is a great example of how to articulate future plans in an informal context.
Utilizing these structures in learners' own speech can significantly enhance their fluency and naturalness when conversing.
Common Pronunciation Traps
As you practice with this interview, pay attention to several pronunciation challenges:
- Contractions: Halsey frequently uses contractions like "I'm gonna" instead of "I am going to." This informal speech can be tricky but essential for sounding natural.
- Linking Sounds: Listen for how words blend together, especially phrases like "spend some time." Practicing these connections can improve overall fluency and rhythm in speech.
- Emphasis on Emotional Words: Pay close attention to how Halsey emphasizes words like "raw" or "insane." The emotional weight she places on certain words helps convey meaning and engage the listener.
Integrating these pronunciation techniques using a shadowing app or the shadowing technique can further enhance speaking skills. As learners repeat and mimic the sounds in real-time, they will develop a more authentic English accent and intonation.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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