Director Jesse Dylan (Bob Dylan's son) and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am have put together a new ballad for Barack Obama that has taken the internet by storm. The lyrics were adapted from Obama's “Yes I Can” speech following the New Hampshire primary. Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Nick Cannon, Herbie Hancock, Common, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Scarlett Johansson are among the stars that feature in the sung/spoken word hybrid. The Obama campaign had no role in creating the video.
Will.i.am told ABC News: “Obama's speech made me reflect on the freedoms I have, going to school where I went to school, and the people that came before Obama like Martin Luther King, presidents like Abraham Lincoln that paved the way for me to be sitting here on ABCNews and making a song from Obama's speech…I'm blown away by how many people wanted to come and be a part of it in a short amount of time. It was all out of love and hope for change and really representing America and looking at the world.”
Will.i.am also wrote a piece over the weekend for the Huffington Post on why he decided to record “Yes We Can”.
Why I Recorded Yes We Can [huffpo]
New Celeb-Filled Music Video for Obama [abc news]
