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Beyoncé — “Be Alive”
Beyoncé’s back. The Queen Bey has released a new single “Be Alive” from the original motion picture King Richard. The movie is based on the life of Richard Williams, father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.
“It feels so good to be alive / Got all my family by my side,” Bey sings on the track. “Couldn’t wipe this Black off if I tried / That’s why I lift my head with pride.”
She goes on: “Can’t nobody knock it if they tried / This is hustle personified / Look how we’ve been fighting to stay alive / So when we win, we will have pride / Do you know how much we have cried? / How hard we had to fight?”
The song was written by Beyoncé and the song’s producer Dixson. It’s the lead single from the King Richard soundtrack as the film, which stars Will Smith, is set to hit theaters and HBO MAX on Nov. 19.
Listen to “Be Alive” below.
Silk Sonic — An Evening with Silk Sonic
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to An Evening With Silk Sonic. The superstar duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak has unleashed a new collaborative album co-starring special guest Bootsy Collins.
The highly-anticipated 9-song project features the lead-up singles “Leave the Door Open,” “Skate,” and “Smokin Out The Window.” Mars and Dernst “D’Mile” Emile handle a bulk of the effort’s production on this offering.
Bruno explained their collaborative energy and chemistry earlier this year. “This came together naturally,” he told “Big Boy’s Neighborhood.” “That’s the only way it’s going to work out. It can’t be forced. It has to come organically. Anderson is one of the baddest musicians I’ve ever seen perform in my life.”
AP went on to say that the collaboration offered inspiration too. “He was working on stuff. I was working on stuff. But it was so much fun to be working on stuff together,” he added. “We knew we was onto something from the first song. His work ethic was crazy. It was cool to meet a peer who has that kind of drive and ambition.”
Listen to An Evening With Silk Sonic below.
Juice WRLD — “Already Dead”
The late Juice WRLD’s team has announced a new album from the rapper-singer’s catalog of unreleased material. In anticipation of the forthcoming project, Fighting Demons, the team has released a new posthumous single, “Already Dead.”
“You can see the pain in my laugh / Demons coming back from the past / Feeling like I’m ‘bout to relapse,” Juice sings in the opening lines. “Voices in my head / All I can hear them say is, ‘Everyone wants me dead’ / I’m already dead / I’ve been dead for years.”
Produced by Nick Mira and Sidepce, the new song also includes a pensive Juice opening up about loneliness, hopelessness, and drugs. “Have you ever been so alone that nobody’s house feels like home?” he asks. “I’ve been running out of drugs and hope / I don’t even got a plug no more.”
To go along with the new single and album announcement, Juice’s family unveiled a trailer. “I never had anything to hide. There was never a filter in my head. Music kind of helps the situation pass,” Juice says in the clip. “Me talking about certain things could help somebody else through what they’re going through.”
The team released a statement to accompany the confirmation of the album. “There was nothing Jarad ‘Juice WRLD’ Higgins enjoyed more than delivering new music to his millions of fans around the world,” reads the statement. “He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come. Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art.”
Fighting Demons is due Dec. 10. Listen to “Already Dead” below.
The Weeknd & ROSALÍA — “LA FAMA”
Vibes from Canada and Spain unite as The Weeknd teams up with ROSALÍA for their new single, “LA FAMA.” The global powerhouse collaboration’s title is translated to mean “THE FAME.”
The song was produced by ROSALÍA and The Weeknd, along with Noah Goldstein, Frank Dukes, Dylan Wiggins, Tainy, Sky Rompiendo, and El Guincho. Meanwhile, the co-stars trade vocal performances about the downsides of fame.
Roughly translated, some of the song’s lyrics include: “Fame is a bad lover, it won’t ever love you for real / It’s far too disloyal and just like it came, it can bail.”
Danny Trejo appears in the track’s sleek music video, which features ROSALÍA as a superstar on stage and The Weeknd as a fan in the crowd. Listen to “LA FAMA” and watch the Director X-directed visual below.
Polo G — “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal)”
Polo G pulls inspiration from the past for his newest single, “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal).” As the title suggests, the song is a callback to Michael Jackson’s classic Bad single, “Smooth Criminal.”
“Smooth criminal, Mike Jack / and I still like to tote a .45 like Mike back,” Polo raps on the track. “Mama told me, ‘I don’t care if you’re scared, go in for the kill, if they try you, better fight back.’”
Directed by Arrad, the song’s music video was also inspired by the original short film that was directed by Colin Chilvers. It was, as the official Michael Jackson YouTube channel notes, originally inspired “in part by Fred Astaire’s ‘Girl Hunt Ballet’ dance number in the film The Band Wagon.”
Polo released the song and video with a message to the family, friends, and fans of Michael Jackson and his estate. “We are truly grateful for all your support in the release of this song and music video,” he said. “MJ is loved all around the world. We used this opportunity to represent this song for the future. We thank you sincerely and we hope we have contributed a small part to the everlasting memory and legend of the greatest entertainer of all time. Thank you.”
Listen to “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal)” below.
STREAMED: Silk Sonic Unleash Collaborative Album “An Evening with Silk Sonic,” Beyoncé Tapped For “King Richard” Soundtrack, & More was originally published on cassiuslife.com
