No Rock And Roll Fun

WELL MEANING, BUT…: In light of recent war-related events, is it perhaps not slightly ill-advised for Justin Timberlake and Missy Elliot to be rewriting 'We are the World' and calling it 'The World Is Ours'? This time round, it's going to be for people in Africa who are dying from the Catholic Church's policy on contraception and Mbeki's dogged belief that he knows better than specialists ("living with Aids"). Besides Elliot and Timberlake, Timbaland is also involved (let's hope they also get Timbur gess on board), and he's remarkably humble about the whole concept, saying "It's only a small gesture, and to be honest, I expect it'll do more for our images and egos than it will for people with Aids in Africa. But if we can make a small difference, I think it's down to all of us to try. I only wish it would be possible without the publicity. Hey, maybe we could just give some of our mighty fortunes instead?"

Okay, actually he said "I see this as a passing of the torch. 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." - which is almost as humble, don't you think? I mean, he didn't actually just blurt out "this will have us knee-deep in Grammy nominations", did he?