It’s October and every year at this time, you can count on certain things: beautiful weather, cooler temperatures, and the color pink everywhere signifying that it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
R&B soul man Musiq Soulchild recently brought fans his sixth album called MusiqintheMagiq and while coming up with the concept for his latest video called “Yes” he teamed up with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Circle of Promise as their new ambassador.
The video features a man who loves and supports his girlfriend through her battle with breast cancer. In the video filmed, which in Atlanta, there is a special scene that features a group of Atlanta women who are breast cancer survivors. Rolling out caught up with the busy singer and champion of breast cancer awareness to speak with him about his new role. –christa e. jackson
How did you get involved with Susan G. Komen for the Cure and become their new Circle of
Promise Ambassador?
In the process of coming up with a new concept for my video for my song called Yes. Myself and my manager and my label were bouncing around a lot of ideas of how we could do the best to convey this gesture of unconditional love through this video and long story short we came around to the breast cancer concept. I am the type of person that I like to push things to be a little more realistic and a little more authentic, so I jumped at the opportunity when I heard that the Susan G. Komen organization was interested in being involved with this. I was like I would love to partner with you guys not just simply so I can say that what I am doing is authentic [or] so I can bring some reality to my video, but more so because I want my music to be relative to real life and this is talking about a particular issue that real people deal with. So what better way to contribute than to assist an organization that helps in the fight against breast cancer, so they called me and we talked about it and they said, “Whatever you can do to bring attention and awareness that would really help us a lot.”
Why did you cast survivors in this video?
Well, the song is dedicated to breast cancer awareness and who better than the people that survived it because that is the ultimate goal. I also just wanted to generate a platform for the survivors to say, “Hey, it is possible for you to beat this and at least get to a better place with this because there is life after breast cancer.”
What do you want African American women to know about the prevention of breast cancer?
The main thing that I would like for African American women to know about prevention is to go get tested and have them understand how important that is. No matter how you feel, just go get checked.
What are some of your responsibilities in your role as an ambassador for breast cancer awareness?
My main responsibility is to raise awareness about how important it is to get tested, checked and screened.
What’s next with for you as an ambassador for Susan G Komen for the Cure?
Whatever I can do with them to help raise awareness.
For more information about breast cancer awareness and to view the PSA with Musiq Soulchild, visit www.circleofpromise.org.
Take a look at Musiq’s video love letter to all breast cancer patients and survivors and their loved ones called – “Yes”
