User blog:Ninjinian/Charity Singles (Let's Talk Helping Causes)
Recently last month, there was an earthquake involving Haiti being devastated. Many are trying to help the cause by donating. I don't think anybody on the wiki can donate actual money directly to them... but there could be a way of helping that's involved in the music business. Now everybody's heard of music; everybody's heard of charity singles; and everybody's heard of that one charity single: We Are the World. It was written by the one & only Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie, and was recorded on January 28, 1985, and then released on March 7, 1985 to help Africa, and all the artists that helped to sing it were called "USA for Africa". Back to the subject of Haiti, you can help them - wanna know how?
By doing the same thing which "USA for Africa" did! There is a new version of the 1985 song, We Are The World, but in the 21st century, with a hip-hop style. I've heard it, and it's as long as the original (almost 7 minutes, blimey!) It features artists such as Usher, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber (girls go crazy), Enrique Iglesias, P!nk, Fergie from the Black-Eyed Peas... and many more! It's called We Are The World: 25 for Haiti, and is already number 1 in many countries on the iTunes Top 10. It hasn't taken out old MJ's part, and the song is basically for three purposes, actually:
- To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the song.
- A tribute to the late, Michael Joseph Jackson - a legend to us all.
- More importantly - to help the people of Haiti after the earthquake that happened there.
The song is completely the same except for some higher parts and an included rap verse (love rap) - the rap artists are LL Cool J, Will-I-Am, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes & Swizz Beatz. Other artists are Kanye West, T-Pain, Akon, Miley Cyrus & Nick Jonas. Rapper Lil Wayne really had trouble singing a verse, because he's a rapper and couldn't sing, but he did a great job! There are of course many more. You can help buy just... buying the song. It'll only be up to 5 dollars or something? I don't know, I'm not American, but here in the UK it'll be just 99p on iTunes and in stores possibly £2 pounds.
<videogallery> Video:We Are The World 25 For Haiti - Official Video Video:WATW: Behind the Scenes Interviews - Part One Video:We Are The World 25 For Haiti Interviews - Two Video:Quincy Jones Thanks You for WATW: Haiti </videogallery>
If you are allowed, get some extra cash and buy the CD single. I've heard it and it's completely awesome. If your not a fan, then it's okay - you can just pray for Haiti. Find out some more about the song. Join all the fan sites, and if you have a YouTube account, subscribe to wearetheworld, the official YouTube channel for the campaign. In the official video description, there's a lot of information which you can read about the song. Here it is:
- Recorded on February 1st, 2010, in the same studio as the original 25 years earlier (Henson Recording Studios, formerly A&M Recording Studios) "We Are The World 25 For Haiti", in which Jones and Richie serve as executive producers and producers, was created in collaboration with executive producers Wyclef Jean, Randy Phillips and Peter Tortorici; producers Humberto Gattica and RedOne; and co-producers Rickey Minor, Mervyn Warren and Patti Austin to benefit the Haitian earthquake relief efforts and the rebuilding of Haiti.
- Academy Award-winning writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), whose own personal efforts as well as those of Artists for Peace and Justice have already saved countless lives in Haiti, filmed the private recording session to create the accompanying video and behind-the-scenes production, and serves as Film Director and as an Executive Producer with Jones, Richie, Jean, Phillips and Tortorici.
- The 25th Anniversary recording features over 80 artists and performers. The recording of We Are The World 25 For Haiti embodied the same enthusiasm, sense of purpose and generosity as the original recording 25 years ago. Every one of the artists who participated, regardless of genre or generation, walked into the room with their hearts and souls completely open to coming together to help the people of Haiti.
Well, that's it for my blog post. There are not many fans of music here, I believe - but buy the song to help the cause for Haiti. If you got an iPod, just buy the song off iTunes and put it in your iPod for just 99p or 99 cents or whatever. Hope this enlightened you with how you could help. The money will go straight to benefit Haiti, so do whatever you can to help. Watch those videos above if you haven't already, and if you have a YouTube account, rate it, favourite it and subscribe! Thank you for your time.
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¤ (User page!) (The Cookie Master, bow!) 18:52, February 14, 2010 (UTC)
