On the Verge: Halsey

This week in On the Verge, USA TODAY's spotlight on breakthrough artists, Brian Mansfield talks to singer/songwriter Halsey.

Not Norman Rockwell's Americana. With its depiction of youth culture "high on legal marijuana, raised on Biggie and Nirvana," 20-year-old singer/songwriter Halsey's New Americana is being hailed as a generational anthem. The single, now No. 24 on USA TODAY's Alternative airplay chart, might actually be more akin to Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (Part II), which meant one thing in the context of an album and something else entirely when hordes of teenage kids sang it seriously. Either way's fine with Halsey: "If the song speaks to you, that's incredible, but if you think the song is a topical cop-out, good, you're supposed to — it's a satire."

Badlands starts treating her good. New Americana appears on Halsey's debut album, Badlands, which she describes as a concept work about "a dystopian, post-apocalyptic society." Released in August, it sold 97,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and entered the Billboard albums chart at No. 2. "Numbers start coming in and sales start coming in, and it doesn't really mean anything to me," she says. "All I really care about is that I did the best that I could with what I had and what was given to me. At the same time, it's absolutely riveting to hear how we've done."

The name game. Born Ashley Frangipane in New Jersey, Halsey took her stage name from an anagram for her given name. "My friends, my family call me Ashley; a lot of other people call me Halsey," she says. "I answer to both of them. Neither one offends me." She began writing songs at age 17 and signed with Astralwerks at 19. This March, she was the most-tweeted-about act at Austin's South by Southwest.

The Halsey army. Between Twitter and Instgram, Halsey has more than 1.5 million followers. More important, she maintains an online dialogue with them. "I think they've gotten to know me so well that they believe what I'm singing," she says. "That's more important than them relating to it."

Identity crisis. Halsey identifies as biracial, bisexual and bipolar, which some clickbait-minded reporters have shortened to "tri-bi." "It's frustrating to see someone turn my identity into a hashtag," she says. "Leading up to my album release, I found that more people wanted to talk about my race and my sexuality than wanted to talk about my album."

Decisions, decisions. Halsey turns 21 Sept. 29, the day before a headlining tour begins at the San Diego House of Blues. "I may have to decide if I'm going to go out and drink and play my first show hung over or if I'm going to sacrifice that for the sake of my tour," says the singer, who'll also open for The Weeknd starting in November. "I'm also going to be in Las Vegas — talk about temptation."