Jay Z Explains Why He Refused To Take Part in WATW

Sandra Rose February 16, 2010

For once I agree with something Jay Z said. He may not be articulate, but he speaks his mind. Jay explained that he refused to partake in the remake of 1985’s “We Are The World” because he felt the original could not be touched.

Indeed, the remake to WATW, in all its saccharine absurdity, is nothing more than a celebrity’s opportunity to jump on board the narcissist express. Celebrities will take part in anything as long as they know they have the attention of the world.

Kudos to Jay Z for not taking part in this narcissist fest. If celebs really want to make a difference in Haiti, they should put their money where their mouth is and open up their wallets.

http://twitter.com/sherita78 mizzdallas

For once I agree with camel, I think that WATW orginal shouldve been left alone! MJ is no longer with us anymore R.I.P. and frankley I just dont want to hear the remake with all these celebs who cant sing, like miley cyrus seriously smdh
nika405

I agree with Jay-z, I wonder how much that wack a@@ remake has even made for the Haiti relief efforts.
pointhimout

agreed. also, the makeup of the people was like wtf? miley cyrus, gladys knight, etc. it seemed ridiculous and not many bought into it. even less will actually buy the updated version. there is only one WATW. you can’t touch that song. accept it. quincy should have passed on it too. no way. stop phuckin with greatness idiots.
Sweet-D

Sounds logical to me. Not everything is meant to be retouched, auto-tuned, screamed and rapped on by the new generation.
Ms. Thickness

I AGREE WITH JAY-Z…BUT WHAT I REALLY WANNA KNOW IS WHY IN THE HELL WYCLEF SCREAMIN ON THE DAMN SONG…SOMETHINGS ARE MEANT TO ORIGINAL AND UNTOUCHED.
TruGemini

I agree…if they were gonna do anything, they shoulda made a whole new song. That crap that they did was a mess This new group of “celebrities” are irrelevant, can’t sing and have virtually no talent. Lionel Ritche and Quincy Jones don’t even mix with T-Pain and Fonzworth Bentley… again
gypsyeyes

I’ve watched the video and I like the randomness of the people. It should not have been remade though. They should have just written a new song. I was embarrassed for Wyclef because he sounded like he was singing through a fan. I understand the Justin Bieber and Miley thing because of marketing purposes.
chase

I agree w/ my ex boo in my head… I think the new version is cute but it pale’s in comparison to the original.. what’s that saying if its not broke don’t fix it!!!

Morning all!!!
Soulstar81

Good morning SR fam!!

I have to say I agree with Jay-Z. They all claim to be artists, so I think they should have been more creative and come up with a new song.
free

i heard some of it on v-103 this morning and it’s whack. i refuse to even go out of my way to listen to it.
Daisy

@Sandra whose to say those who participated didnt also open their wallets and GIVE as well? All ppl should worry about is what they gave or did IMO
Say It Aint So Joe

I agree, remakes are usually really wack, i.e WATW pt. duece.
http://twitter.com/Q_ATLANTIS Q_ATLANTIS

you’re right Sandra!
Al-Ameera

Oh good cuz I was feeling baaaaadddd.
When my husband and I heard it our responses were…that it was F’ing horrible and should have been left alone. I was feeling bad cuz I figured it’s for charity and I should support it. Geez who even put it together? There was no musical cohesiveness what so ever. Just bad.
sexywitwhatigot

didn’t like the remake. wyclef, i know he’s passionate and all, but he sound like a goat. i think they should have did something more original. they really messed up my 5th grade graduation song. :smh:
kcicero

I thought the new version was okay, not as good as the old one but autotune and nondescript yelling will do that. Loved J-hud, Pink, tony and a couple of others..could have done without justin, miley and the autotune…
Sweet-D

Bottom line, this new generation just needs to realize that no amount of money could make them sound good on just any and every remake…
LovelyLady

Wtf does it matter. It was for a good cost. if you didnt like it dont listen to it or better yet dont watch it. mofos always gotta make something negative out of something positive. Id think Celebs reached out to be on the remake i think they were approached. Have you ever stopped to think Jay Z did exactly what he knew would happen. Once people didnt see he was on the remake they dumb ass was goin start talking. And that exactly what happened. I bet people talking more about WHY is wasnt on the remake then if he WAS on the remake.
LovelyLady

And people always worrying about what a Celeb gave…How much did you give?? Yea okay, I bet you could’ve done without that 600.00 handbag or them 250 dollar pumps.
biglegs36

remake wasn’t all that good, but if i recall correctly there were several non singing azz people on the original as well, i.e. bob dylan, bruce springsteen, and a few others!
starr2910

Why are ppl acting like the original will be forgotten? this remake wasn’t done to outshine MJ, it was done to show that celebs can come 2gether for one cause..There are other songs they could have used, but using MJ’s was also to pay tribute to him…Who is Jay-Z to think that he can open his gargantuan lips and complain about something? Where was his complaints when Beyonce remade “At Last” and won a Grammy for it? And is that the reason Beyonce didn’t participate in the remake? Because her husband told her not to? smh
LovelyLady

@ Satrr
anti-PC

Joe Camel is on point. They were too lazy to write a new song.
SunnyPA

I don’t know if I agree with Jay-Z … but I have to say that the remake is horrible.
buttercup24

I completely agree with him. I know I’m probably in the minority but I thought it was horrible. I would’ve had more respect for it if they at least had the people who participated in the first one singing. The majority of them, if not all of them with the exception of Ray Charles are alive. I mean come on. It didn’t mesh well together at all. How do you have Glady’s Knight and Faith Evans there, without giving them a solo. Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, T Pain are you serious? It’s horrible. And I almost wish they didn’t let Celine Dion, Pink and Jennifer sing solos because when the others came on, it reminded me exactly how terrible it really was.

What was Kanye’s purpose again? The rap boooo! Michael is probably cussing somebody out for this one.
http://createspace.com/3393054 iscream

I almost missed this post. ALMOST.

While I the opportunity to hear him speak & see him. We all know he didn’t part take in the remake because it feat many of the artist that don’t like him. LL cool J being at the top. T-pain and his voice box.

The song itself was okay. Wyclef I could’ve done without the screaming. He scared the heck out of me first time I heard it. I don’t think Michael would be mad because of the cause.

Anyway you Jay.
Erica24

Wheny the people who were a part of the original complain, excluding Michael, then Jay COCKY z should say something. I swear he is one of those type of dudes that think they always have the “right” answer.

He needs to just admit he wouldn’t have had any shine on it, so he wasn’t a part of it.

People are acting like they sampled the song(which Jay Z does often) and messed it up.

For once, Blacks & whites, got together, put their pride aside and did something for a good cause. Michael Jackson was about love, and this was about LOVE, not about GAIN..reason being why JAY Z was not a part of this.

All genres of music together, different voices, different styles to show “we are the world” we make the world, and he says a “classic shouldn’t be touched”. Okay Jay Z, make sure you don’t TOUCH anymore of Biggies Classic lyrics that you CONTINUE to touch. OO god I swear if I could reach Jay z I would knock him off the horse he rides! ugh! lol.

The new version was nice, and I hope the people who were a part of a CLASSIC are proud of what they contributed to those who do APPRECIATE IT! HAITI! YO i can’t stand this dude sometimes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fly Miss

Sweet-D Says:

Sounds logical to me. Not everything is meant to be retouched, auto-tuned, screamed and rapped on by the new generation.
———————————————————–

LOL this is true! I understand what their efforts were but couldnt they just make a NEW song?? And it u really wanted to remake that song WHY WOULD U INCLUDE THE AUTO TUNE?!?! It was soooo outta place it just came out of nowhere!! And why is this like Wyclefs song?? Because hes from Haiti he has like a guest solo spot in the song?? LOL let me stop…
onlinefan

i didn’t like the remake. they should have just made another song but maybe kept the original chorus. but for putting it together so quick with all those people participating was a good effort.
KrayZKat

I didn’t have a problem with the remake at all. They all had a heart to do something for the people of Haiti, and that’s what matters. There were some people like Wayne, T-Shame, Wyclef (bless his heart), and a few others they could’ve left out, but overall, I didn’t see anything that wrong with it. Like someone said, the original isn’t going anywhere.
Sweet-D

Yeah, yeah… I get it. It was good that they came together for a cause and all, but the money, time and all the other effort it took for them all to make this wack ass song, could have gone directly to the cause. Really, was it about coming together for a cause, or making it public so that the media would buy into them trying to uphold, repair, and create positive images. A person who really cared about giving for the cause wouldn’t have needed a bunch of other celebs, a big ass wack production, and a camera.
Lady Progressive

I agree too because that “remake” was the worst thing I heard in quire sometime.
Tyzgurl

Justin and Miley were put on there for marketing. Their fans will buy it just because they are on it.
free

sweet-D Says: Really, was it about coming together for a cause, or making it public so that the media would buy into them trying to uphold, repair, and create positive images.

**********************************************

basically. a chance for the new crop to say they did it.
~B

I agree with Jigga! They should never have touched that song….I hate this remake…I will download it for the cause though…
nonoinokc

What does everyone have to be a narcissist???? Is this a new word for you? You use it EVERY day and it’s getting old….please refrain (if possible). It makes your blog hard to read.
heyroz

I agree. I felt they should have left that song alone. Do something else. I guess Farnsworth Bentley was the new Dan Akroyd circa 2010. Can somebody tell why he was there in the first place?

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