Legendary US music producer Quincy Jones has joined some of the biggest names in Arab music to produce an Arabic charity single.
Entitled ‘Tomorrow/Bokra’, the record, which has been made in partnership with UAE-based social entrepreneur Badr Jafar, will raise money and help finance educational arts and culture scholarships and projects for children in the Middle East and North Africa.
The song is a production of the Global Gumbo Group, a music partnership launched earlier this year between Jones and Jafar, they said in a joint statement.
Global Gumbo Group has recorded the new Arabic version of the song ‘Tomorrow (A Better You, A Better Me)’, Jones’ famous anthem of peace, hope and unity, in Rabat, Morocco, concurrently with the 10th edition of the MAWAZINE Festival Rhythms of the World.
It was 26 years ago that the iconic recording ‘We Are The World’, also produced by Jones, generating over $63m to help ease suffering in Africa.
A contemporary version of the song was also released last year to aid the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
The ‘Tomorrow/Bokra’ recording involves some of the biggest names in Arabic music, including Majida El Roumi (Lebanon), Kathem Al Saher (Iraq), Mayada El Hannaoui (Syria), Saber El Rebai (Tunisia), Amr Diab (Egypt), Asma Lmnawar (Morocco) and many others.
The line-up of over 26 artists from the Arab World is an unprecedented summit of Middle Eastern talent on a scale never seen before.
Jones said: “I have long been a vocal proponent of music and the arts being a great asset in building bridges between people and cultures.
“I believe that given a choice, people want to live in a world of peace and prosperity and it is my hope that this song will serve as a clarion call for the people of the Middle East and North Africa who share that desire for peace, hope, unity and a better tomorrow to come together to achieve that dream.”
The song will be co-produced by Jones and ‘RedOne’ (aka Nadir Khayat), a Grammy award-winning producer and songwriter who has worked with a plethora of talent including Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Akon and Enrique Iglesias.
Majida El Roumi has writen the Arabic lyrics and the highly respected Kathem Al Saher has composed the Arabic adaptation, with both determined to express the song’s fundamental message of “a better tomorrow”.
Jafr added: “This song comes at such an important time for the Middle East and brings together the region’s leading talent to produce a song of inspiration and hope for all.
“There is no better time in the region’s history than now for us to be producing a song of this magnitude, and we have the very best people in the industry behind it.”
The team is also creating a music video for the song, as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary that will trace the Tomorrow/Bokra project, incorporating footage from various countries in the region where artists involved will be performing.
The record is expected to be released after Ramadan.
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