Saturday, February 13, 2010

We Are the World: Revisted

So again we have another remake of a classic song and I give it a B. With a little editing of artist solos and features it has potential, but it comes off as a half-assed attempt to recreate magic. No one can replace the stars of the original, but some of the "stars" just don't belong (i.e. Justin Bieber, Nicole Swixzwhogivesaeff, Miley Cyrus). WTF, man? The song should have featured this generation's icons/legends/stars and talented newcomers not fluff figures there to dumb down the message and weaken the vocals. Usher, Mary J, Toni, Enrique, Jennifer, Pink, Mary Mary and others have earned a place so have the newcomers like Trey Songz and Dauthery who are making waves, but that's just my opinion.

I appreciated the attempt to add a hip-hop element because hip-hop is relevant, but Mr. West could have covered that by himself.

People note the absence of "A-Listers" like Bey and Jay and Rihanna, but I say it's their loss.

I do like the song and appreciate the attempt to send the message the "we are the world, we are the children"; however I would be interested to hear a new "charity anthem" created by a new crop of producers and song writers. What would they say? What would be the new message?

See the original and the latest videos below.

"We are the World" 25 for Haiti




"We are the World" USA for Africa