Never accuse Selena Gomez of being a slacker. 2020 has seen her release an album, raise funds for both COVID-19 relief, lend her platform to Black leaders to raise awareness of systemic racism, start a cooking show, — and she happened to find time to jump on a remix of Trevor Daniel’s “Past Life.” The song, released on June 26, sees Sel sing “Last night was the last night of my past life/Got me here like you can never figure me out/Last night was the last time, was the last time.” The pair also made the debut with an epic lyric video, shot by Instagram live, with their friends — including Sel’s manager Aleen Keshishian and songwriter Finneas — typing out the lyrics in the comments.
In other lyrics, the star openly references her past struggles with depression. “And I don’t wanna sit in all my sadness/I know it’s a habit of mine,” she opened the tune. The remix features Selena and Trevor singing back-and-forth to each other, as the pair attempt to move forward into another phase of life, including a past relationship. Selena and Trevor’s voices sounded absolutely incredible as they sang together on the chorus, and we are definitely hoping to see them perform live together at some point!
“When I heard the song the first time,” Selena said in a Zoom ball with Trevor that she shared ahead of the remix’s release, “I loved that the fact that it was, kind of like a story about all the things we tend to hold onto and the patterns that we have. And I’m very, very, very vocal about my personal experiences. You know, making decisions that aren’t necessarily healthy for me.”
Trevor first hinted that a collab was in the works on June 20. The “Falling” star posed in a mirror selfie wearing a piece of Selena’s merch. “been a min since i posted a pic,” he captioned the shot, and that was all he needed to get people buzzing about a potential Selena feature. A few days later, he confirmed that hype. “Past Life with @selenagomez is out this Friday,” he posted to Instagram. Selena, for her own part, has transformed her Instagram account (with her 181 million followers) into a platform to elevate Black voices. She handed over her account to Black community leaders – including Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, rapper/activist Killer Mike, and former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams – so they could share their “knowledge, eagerness to teach and commitment to ensuring Black voices are not silenced.”
“Educating ourselves is the first step if we hope to make any progress in bringing an end to systemic racism,” she said in a June 18 post that thanked all the leaders who shared their wisdom with her followers. “As much as one might want to believe things have gotten better, we cannot deny any longer than they have not. We need to acknowledge that social, political, and economic discrimination against Black communities continues to exist.”
Selena also announced on June 23 that she partnered with Plus1 to launch the Black Equality Fund. This fund will “drive money and awareness to those who are at the forefront of the movement fighting for change.” Donations will go to 10 organizations: TGI Justice Project, Black Futures Lab, Fair Count, African American Policy Forum, BLDPWR, Color of Change, Know Your Rights Camp, BU Center for Antiracist Research, Equal Justice Initiative and the Movement for Black Lives. “It’s all of our responsibility to fight for equality & justice for the Black community. Silence isn’t an option, let’s all join this fight for equality,” tweeted Selena when announcing the fund.
Music-wise, Selena previously released “Boyfriend” as the fourth single from her 2020 album, Rare. Though the COVID-19 pandemic put the music world on hold, Selena has kept busy. In addition to working on new music on her DIY home studio, she also announced a 10-episode cooking series on HBO Max, per Variety.
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