Jay-z is not a fan of classic remakes and “We Are The World” is no exception. The Michael Jackson/Lionel Richie/Quincy Jones collaboration, which originally debuted in 1985 as a charity song for Africa, was remade and debuted during the Olympic opening ceremonies.
“I know everybody is gonna take this wrong: ‘We Are the World,’ I love it, and I understand the point and think it’s great. But I think ‘We Are the World’ is like [Michael Jackson's] ‘Thriller’ to me. I don’t ever wanna see it touched,” said Jay-Z to MTV News. “I’m a fan of music. I know the plight and everything that’s going on in Haiti. I applaud the efforts: [Millions have been raised] through text [donations] to Haiti. So I appreciate the efforts and everything, but ‘We Are The World’ is [musically] untouchable like ‘Thriller’ is untouchable. Some things are just untouchable. It was a valiant effort, but for me, it’s gonna be untouchable.”
The rapper says he would have liked to see an original song made in its place like ”Stranded,” the song he performed with Rihanna, Bono and The Edge for the “Hope For Haiti Now” telethon.
The 2.0 version is a cluster of musical superstars including Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Fergie, Barbara Streisand and Pink. But Jay-Z isn’t the only critic of the remake. ”We Are the World” has generated mostly negative press for being oversung, using auto-tune (T-Pain did have a solo, after all), the rap portion being misplaced and questionable solo’s from Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber.
Whether you agree or not, the message is still the same. What do you think of the remake? I’ve included both new and old for comparison.