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Jay-Z Explains His ‘We Are the World 25′ Absence

Jay-Z Explains His ‘We Are the World 25′ Absence

Have you been racking your brain trying to figure out why Jay-Z isn’t a part of the “We Are the World 25″ remake for Haiti?

Well, to put it bluntly, Hova says he wasn’t interested because he doesn’t do remakes. Explaining further, he says that nothing, even if it’s filled with star-studded ensemble, could ever come close to the original song.

“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,” he told MTV at the annual “2 Kings” dinner during NBA All-Star weekend. “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: [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.”

Jay-Z also said he rather make a new song instead of messing with what’s considered a classic.

“As everyone knows, I have tremendous respect for Quincy Jones. Of course, I think he’s genius, as everyone else does. [But] I think it’s time for us to make a new [song]. 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' telethon]. I didn’t try to make ‘We Are the World,’ but I tried to make our take on how we felt”