Obsessed

Exclusive Listen: Natasha Bedingfield Teams Up With Philosophy for "Hope"

Listen to Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield's bright, catchy music for two seconds and you're immediately filled with positive vibes. So, it seems only natural that she would team up with Philosophy to support its Hope and Grace Initiative—a commitment by the brand to support community-based mental health organizations. To draw attention to the mental health needs of women and spread the feeling of hope, Natasha penned an exclusive, original song, "Hope." Along with the product launch of renewed hope in a jar, the song will be available for download on iTunes on January 13—and 20 percent of the net proceeds from the iTunes sales will benefit the Hope and Grace Initiative until 2016. But I have good news: You can get a first listen of the song right here—today! Listen here: And last month, I got the chance to go behind the scenes and see Natasha putting the song together. So, of course, I had to ask her about the message (and great cause!) behind "hope." Tell me about how you got involved with Philosophy. Natasha: Well, Philosophy contacted me and asked me to collaborate with them on writing a song. I had heard about the Hope and Grace Initiative

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Listen to Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield's bright, catchy music for two seconds and you're immediately filled with positive vibes.

So, it seems only natural that she would team up with Philosophy to support its Hope and Grace Initiative—a commitment by the brand to support community-based mental health organizations. To draw attention to the mental health needs of women and spread the feeling of hope, Natasha penned an exclusive, original song, "Hope." Along with the product launch of renewed hope in a jar, the song will be available for download on iTunes on January 13—and 20 percent of the net proceeds from the iTunes sales will benefit the Hope and Grace Initiative until 2016.

But I have good news: You can get a first listen of the song right here—today!

Listen here:

And last month, I got the chance to go behind the scenes and see Natasha putting the song together. So, of course, I had to ask her about the message (and great cause!) behind "hope."

Tell me about how you got involved with Philosophy.

Natasha: Well, Philosophy contacted me and asked me to collaborate with them on writing a song. I had heard about the Hope and Grace Initiative and thought it was just a wonderful thing. Hope is such a powerful thing. We all have hope for different things, but I think sometimes we need to share our hope with other people. We're sometimes in our own issues, and it isolates us, but when we come together and encourage each other and give a little bit of hope, it can, like it says in the song, go a long way. You can do a lot, so that's what inspired the song.

Tell me more about writing the song. Did anything else inspire you?

Natasha: It's interesting—I feel like when you start focusing on an issue, you see little things that make you feel like you're on a good track. I was in Canada this week and found a street that was called Hope Street, and then I would go into little shops and see little pebbles with "hope" on them. I realized that this is such an important issue, and when I'm reading newspapers I'm seeing how vital it is that we really do focus on positive affirmations and good mental health in women because there's just so much negativity. I feel like people really feel very alone in their issues, so it's easy to get overwhelmed by it all. For me, I felt like it's important to really gang together on it.

So what brings you hope?

Natasha: Things that bring me hope are when someone gives me a touch when I need it or music, for sure. The right song at the right time, or the right word at the right time, definitely bring encouragement. Sometimes we don't say stuff to people because we think they know it. You see someone who's beautiful, and you don't tell them that they're beautiful because you think that must hear it all the time. And it's funny because sometimes the most beautiful people are the most insecure.

Why was mental health an important cause to you?

Natasha: It's common knowledge that in the entertainment industry there's a lot of craziness that goes down, and it's really hard for anyone to stay sane. It's not a very natural environment to be in for too long. It's not very healthy. So for me, I've always made a conscious effort to keep my roots grounded and to have good people around me. A lot of my peers, a lot of singers who release things at the same time as me, I've seen their work, and I understand the challenges that they go through too. Even in my songs, I really know that words and the things you put out there, they actually do influence people and they influence yourself. It's always been a theme for me, really, mental health. And women particularly—I'm all about building up women. Women should be behind their girls. Women should be for each other, not fighting each other.

I hear there was a social media component to the video?

Natasha: I put up a thing on Instagram and Twitter asking people to send in messages of hope, and most of them were really touching and personal. Philosophy also did the same. So we got an idea for the video that we'd have affirmations of hope, and it shows me writing them out.

Any that stood out to you?

Natasha: There was one that I read that said—someone was saying it to their mom—and it said, "Mom, you've done so much for us and you've put aside so much. Now it's your turn. I hope that you can go on and do your thing." I thought that was beautiful because it made my think of my mom. There were quite a few lovely ones.

The song will be available for download on iTunes on January 13. For more information, you can go to philosophy.com/renewedhope.