1 Comments

we are the world 25The earthquake that hit Haiti last month was, as I'm sure you've heard, devastating. The death toll is in the hundreds of thousands and over a million people are homeless. If you'd like to give, you can donate to the Red Cross here.

People from all walks of life have banded together to help Haiti and, unsurprisingly, today's popular music artists have rerecorded a 25th anniversary version of 'We Are The World' and released it as a charity single. I bet you're wondering if it's any good.

How can I put this... it's the thought that counts? Look, I'm not one of those cynical people who criticizes these artists simply for doing this: this is what they know how to do, so this is naturally how they try to help. It's not like Miley Cyrus could have otherwise spent her time founding a microfinance organization.

But, man, there are so many tween stars I've never heard of (Ed. note: That's Justin Bieber in the front there), waaaay too much auto-tune, and one of the worst raps of all time. Luckily, the internet has produced far better 'We Are The World' remixes. Check them out after the break.

Here's the original 'We Are The World,' from way back in the day:



Here's the 25th anniversary edition, rerecorded to benefit the victims of the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010:


I was never a fan of the song -- way too schmaltzy for me -- but I'll take the original over the new one any day. I mean, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Tina Tuner, Bob Dylan, and Michael Jackson or Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Pink, Jamie Foxx and T-Pain? The choice is obvious. Although, thanks to the internet, you don't have to choose between the two versions.

Here's a great acoustic cover of 'We Are The World,' performed by Tyler Ward and his crew:


If you're a hip hop fan, you might like this rap star studded (50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem) fan remix of the song:


Here's a really soulful 'Greatest Love'/'We Are The World' mashup by RuSoul:


I think the RuSoul version is my favorite out of all of them -- his voice is great and the sentiment he's trying to express seems really genuine. If you know of any other great fan covers of the song, feel free to leave a link in the comments section.