Jay-Z: “We Are the World” Shouldn’t Have Been Remade
Us Magazine
February 15, 2010
Jay-Z wasn’t a big fan of the “We Are the World” remake, which debuted at the Olympic opening
ceremonies Friday to benefit Haiti earthquake relief.
“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,” Jay-Z told MTVNews.com Saturday night at the 2 Kings dinner in Dallas.
Critics agree with the rapper. Sniped The Washington Post of the song, which featured Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, “The updated take was horribly oversung… save for the 21st-century rap verses added toward the end of the track.” Wrote the New York Times, “Lil Wayne, you’re no Bob Dylan…. as a piece of work, [the song] has all the pitfalls of a Hollywood remake.”
Continued Jay-Z, 40, “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.”
His suggestion?
“I think it’s time for us to make a new [song],” Jay-Z said. “I tried to do that with ‘Stranded,’ [the tune Jay Z, Rihanna 
and U2's Bono and The Edge premiered at the 'Hope for Haiti Now' telethon]. I didn’t try to make ‘We Are the World,’ but I tried to make our take on how we felt.”
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We Are the World “is a legacy for all of us, it is the biggest gift you can give another human being and not legendary. Jay-Z, We Are the World “is not your crazy Nostalgia , it has been for the poor You’re not Michael, So you can not criticize. You’re a heartless shit what they’re not the eyes, the heart of understanding