Jay-Z comments on We Are The World 25 for Haiti

“I have a interesting take on that. 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. I’m a fan of music. I know the plight and everything that’s going on in Haiti. I applaud the efforts: through text [donations] to Haiti. So I appreciate the efforts and everything, but ‘We are the World’ is untouchable like ‘Thriller’ is untouchable. Some things are just untouchable. It was a valiant effort, but for me, it’s gonna be untouchable.”

“I would have loved that idea better. As everyone knows, I have tremendous respect for Quincy Jones. Of course, I think he’s genius, as everyone else does. I think it’s time for us to make a new one. I tried to do that with ‘Stranded,’ the song Jay, Rihanna and U2’s Bono and the Edge premiered at the ‘Hope for Haiti Now’. I didn’t try to make ‘We Are the World,’ but I tried to make our take on how we felt.” – Jay-Z

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  The We Are the World 25 for Haiti video and song were a complete mess. A mess. They should have recorded a new song. With something like 50 songwriters in that room, nobody could come up with some new material? - LADY