Fantasia Barrino Announces New Single and Album

Nearly a decade after her debut on American Idol, Fantasia Barrino has learned a lesson or two about survival, the fitting theme of her new single “Lose to Win.” Released on itunes today, “Lose to Win” is a soul-tinged number with uplifting lyrics  that proclaim “sometimes you gotta lose to win again.”
Fantasia claims the song isn’t about a relationship, but rather serves as a metaphor for her career. “It’s been 10 years for me and there’s been ups, there’s been downs, there’s been people to walk away, so the message was strong for me and I just had to record it.”
The single will appear on Fantasia’s upcoming fourth studio album,The Side Effects of You.
“My whole album I wrote with one guy out of London, his name is Harmony. I didn’t want to flip flop and be everywhere because a lot of times, with my other albums, I’ve worked with different producers, great producers, but this time I just wanted to stick with one person so that we can just have an album that has one sound and everybody is on the same page,” says Ms. Barrino.
The Side Effects of You also represents a particularly significant milestone for Fantasia: her first time to write songs.  “I just wanted so bad to do something like that and I thank the record company, RCA, for allowing me to finally be able to do that on this album,” said Fantasia.  The Side Effects of You will drop March 13.
The announcement of new music coincides with Fantasia’s controversial Instagram posting last week, apparently equating gay marriage to marijuana legalization.
Fantasia initially posted this as an Instagram caption. “I Rise ABOVE IT ALL!!! THE WORLD IS GONE MAD. KIDS, THE GOVERNMENT THE church House… Everybody Trying!!!!!!! Its a lot that going on that the Bible speaks about we should Not be doing. Weed legal in some places, Gay Marriage Legal BUT YET IM JUDGED!!! I’m not doing Nothing for you… My Life!!!!
After an intense and fast backlash from fans, Fantasia deleted the post and her representative released the following statement: “Comments made by Ms. Barrino…. were recently taken far out of context. Ms. Barrino is not now, nor has she ever been an opponent of the LGBT community. She has supported and performed at numerous events that are sponsored by the LGBT community.”
Fantasia also took to her own defense, posting a new message on Instagram,  “NOW IM ANGRY!! MY WHOLE TEAM IS GAY, MY MANAGER IS GAY, MIDDLE FINGER UP TO THOSE WHO SEAK [sic] TO DESTROY ME.”
While she has quelled the haters for now, Fantasia might benefit from thinking about her social media posts a bit more carefully, as well as removing the caps lock.