Music

In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, BET Her will kick off its fourth season of The Waiting Room — a series of stories about Black women and their life altering medial diagnosis. This season’s short films, Oh Baby Baby and The Pink Fight, follow the journeys of women battling breast cancer from diagnosis to coping and healing. 

If Loving You is Wrong actress Edwina Findley stars in Oh Baby Baby, a story about a fashion entrepreneur who develops breast cancer from IVF treatments while trying to conceive a baby. Co-written by Maggy Francois and Maimah Karmo, the Tichina Arnold-directed short airs Saturday, October 8, at 10 p.m. ET. 

In an interview with BlackFilm.com, Arnold discusses why she decided to take part in the project. 

“Now I’m older, I have more of an experience with life,” she says of her directorial debut. “Even though I am not a breast cancer survivor, even though I’ve never been diagnosed with breast cancer … never used IVF treatments, I thought this situation was a great time for me … because of the great content,” she said. “We finally get to tell our own stories.”

Actress LisaRaye McCoy takes on directing duties in The Pink Fight, a story revolving around a boxer diagnosed with breast cancer. Written by K. Senay, the film follows the boxer and her wife as they fight for survival both in and out of the ring. 

Season 4 of The Waiting Room airs Saturday, October 8, on BET Her. 

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Snow Waltz, Lindsey Stirling‘s first all-new album of Christmas music since 2017’s Warmer in the Winter, is out on Friday, and she’s released a video for the title track which manages to combine both the Halloween and the Christmas season.

In the song, Lindsey deliberately set out to combine a Christmas-y feeling with an element of spookiness, to reflect that the album is out in October.  That theme inspired the video, which casts Lindsey and her backup dancers as skeletons frolicking on October 31. As the calendar flips to November 1, they’re all ready to get back in their coffins when all of a sudden, it starts to snow.

The joke is that the snow, and all the other elements of Christmas that suddenly appear — like festive food, decorations and even an adorable puppy with a red ribbon — frighten the bejeezus out of the skeletons. In one scene, Lindsey reads “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to her fellow skeletons, and when she shows them the illustrations of Santa Claus, they faint in terror.

But by the end of the video, they’re into it: All the skeletons grab a Christmas-related item — including the puppy — and go back into their coffins.

In addition to instrumental interpretations of holiday classics like “Joy to the World,” Snow Waltz also includes vocals by guest artists David Archuleta, pop singer Frawley and hitmaking songwriter Bonnie McKee. 

Lindsey’s  Snow Waltz Christmas tour kicks off November 17 in Grand Prairie, TX.

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Iggy Pop has shared a cover of the Leonard Cohen song “You Want It Darker.”

The Godfather of Punk’s rendition of the 2016 track stretches out to over five minutes, and features his slow-burning, gravelly vocals over jazz instrumentation.

“There’s nobody like Leonard, not in the whole world,” Pop says.

Pop’s cover is available now via digital outlets, and will appear on the upcoming Cohen tribute album Here It Is, due out October 14. The compilation also includes contributions from Peter Gabriel, Nathaniel Rateliff, Norah Jones, James Taylor and Mavis Staples.

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Adam Lambert has released his version of Noël Coward’s 1932 show tune “Mad About the Boy,” which will be featured in the 2023 documentary Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story. Adam says getting to record the song by the late, legendary British playwright, composer, director and actor was not only a “cool opportunity,” but a “nice challenge.”

Coward, who died in 1973, never publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, which is why it’s significant that Adam has recorded the song, which features lyrics like, “Mad about the boy/I know it’s stupid to be mad about the boy/I’m so ashamed of it/But must admit/The sleepless nights I’ve had about the boy.”

“He wrote it about a man and he was never really able to record it because that would have been too taboo for that time,” Adam tells ABC Audio. “So it’s always been a torch song sung by amazing female vocalists. And when they realized, ‘It’s 2022, we’re going to put this film out,’ they came up with the idea of having a guy sing it as it was really intended.”

“When they asked me to do it, I thought, ‘What a cool opportunity,'” Adam adds.  He also appreciates the fact that the song allowed him to stretch artistically.

“I haven’t really recorded anything that was sort of jazz-leaning before, but it’s something that I always kind of been interested in,” he notes. “I guess I sang some of that style of music here and there as a musical theater kid, but never on record as an adult. So yeah, it was, like, a nice challenge!”

Adam will kick off his upcoming Halloween-themed tour The Witch Hunt October 19 in Oakland, CA.  It wraps up October 30 at the Hollywood Palladium.

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From double-feature projects to highly anticipated follow-ups, check out this week’s New Music Friday for the culture’s latest & greatest in music.

—Toosii, Boys Don’t Cry — The “Love Cycle” rapper dropped off his latest project, his first of the year. It comes after a year of “battling problems with mental health” and “trying to be the best person,” he said.

—NBA Youngboy, 3800 Degrees — Just two months after his fourth studio album, The Last Slimento, the Baton Rouge, LA rapper returns with the new 13-track collection.

—G Herbo, Survivor’s Remorse (A Side) — The Chicago native tells his life story by way of a double album — an A & B side. A side features Offset, Jeremih, Gunna and even G Herbo’s son Yosohn.

—Quavo & Takeoff, Only Built for Infinity Links — Under their new moniker, Unc & Phew, the duo dropped off their first official project as a pair. Via Quality Control Music comes the 18-track album with features from Gucci Mane, Summer Walker, Young Thug & Gunna. 

—Jazmine Sullivan & D’Mile, “Stand Up” — The Grammy winners teamed up for the original song, which will land on the soundtrack of the upcoming Till biopic. Variety reports the song will be featured during the end credits of the true-story film and has already been submitted to the Academy for Best Original Song consideration.

Hits in Heavy Rotation

—Beyoncé, “Cuff It“

—Chris Brown ft. Wizkid, “Call Me Every Day“

—Glo Rilla ft. Cardi B, “Tomorrow 2“

—Megan Thee Stallion, “Her“

—Akon, “Enjoy That“

—Ari Lennox, “Waste My Time“

—Tems, “Free Mind” 

—Elevation Worship, “Same God” 

—CeCe Winans, “I’ve Got Joy“

Artist on the Rise

Fresh off his debut performance at the BET Hip Hop Awards, Armani White has been taking social media by storm. He rose to fame with his viral hit “Billie Eilish.”

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All Time Low has premiered a new single called “Sleepwalking.”

In a statement, frontman Alex Gaskarth says “Sleepwalking” is “a reflection on time spent away from whatever it is that makes you feel alive, on time lost to the weight of dragging feet and drifting thoughts.”

“As we were working on this song, we considered our place in a changing world,” Gaskarth shares. “We realized just how affected we were as individuals by time spent away from our most familiar life-lines, and how grateful we are now to come together with those people, places and things…our friends, families, touring, shows, art and the energy and perspective that comes with real, raw connection”.

“Our time spent away from our most beloved dreams felt like being on cruise-control, going through the motions in a trance,” he continues. “We are so grateful to be here now, sharing this song, this sentiment, this energy, and most of all this band with you. Thank you for being here and for being with us as we continue this journey together.”

You can listen to “Sleepwalking” now via digital outlets, and watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.

“Sleepwalking” follows All Time Low’s 2021 singles “Once in a Lifetime” and “PMA.” The band’s most recent album is 2020’s Wake Up, Sunshine, which spawned the hit “Monsters.”

Last fall, All Time Low was accused of sexual misconduct, which the band denied. In February of this year, Rolling Stone reported that the group had filed a libel lawsuit against three anonymous social media users making the allegations.

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