Timbaland will
produce and write a new version of the USA For Africa charity effort, "We
Are The World," to raise funds for worldwide HIV/Aids programs.
The new song, titled
"The World Is Ours," is being co-written by Missy Elliot and Justin
Timberlake and will feature more than 40 performers, who are being recruited
for the project.
"I see this
as a passing of the torch," Timbaland said. "I will use the legendary
model of We Are the World, but update it in a way that works for the trends
of the music industry today. Just as Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie and Michael
Jackson did, we will create an anthem with today’s most talented artists to
produce a song that will bring the world’s attention to the Aids pandemic."
The project is
being released with Quincy Jones’ blessings, on Tim’s Beatclub Records.
An accompanying
video will premiere on VH1 and a DVD will be produced by Quincy Jones III (QD3).
Proceeds will benefit
the YouthAIDS organization and Quincy Jones’ Listen Up Foundation.
The original We
Are The World project featured such heavyweights as Willie Nelson, Diana Ross,
Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan.
The song was written
by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. Legend has it that they wrote the song
in under two hours.
The project raised
$90 million to support the famine relief effort in Africa.
Timbaland’s project
is slated to hit the stores in the Spring of 2004.
