Singer Fuse ODG has released an “alternative” charity song to Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? after criticising the original for having potentially damaging effects on Africa.
The single titled We Know It’s Christmas (Band Aid Reply) was released by the British-Ghanaian singer on Tuesday, in what he described as “not just a song” but a “statement”.
Writing about his new song in The Guardian, the singer said he is “offering an Afrobeats alternative to Band Aid” as a “celebration of progress and a step toward reclaiming our narratives”.
He said the Afrobeats genre has in the past helped to unite Africans globally and “foster pride in our heritage”.
“We’re no longer waiting for charity; we’re building our own futures. This is about empowerment, pride, and showing the world that Africa’s story is far more than poverty and aid,” he wrote on YouTube.
The rapper said all the funds from the single will go to the New Africa Growth and Relief Fund, which he has launched to help build a “financial safety net” for the continent.
It comes after pop star Ed Sheeran said he was not asked permission for his vocals to be used in Band Aid 40, and would have “respectfully declined” if he had been asked, referencing a post by Fuse ODG, for updating his view on the matter.
Instagram
This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Instagram cookies for this session only.
Fuse ODG said a decade earlier he had refused to take part in the 2014 revamp of the 1984 project as he feels that while it helps get “sympathy and donations, they perpetuate damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa’s economic growth, tourism, and investment”.
He said his “mission” is now to “reclaim the narrative, empowering Africans to tell their own stories, redefine their identity, and position Africa as a thriving hub for investment and tourism”.
The singer acknowledged that while the public’s generosity in reaction to the original single – which was launched by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to help charities working with starving children in Ethiopia – was “genuine” and addressed “a specific humanitarian crisis”, the way it depicted Africa “did more long-term harm than good”.
Image: Artists who took part in the original Band Aid in 1984. Pic: PA
Image: The re-recording of the song in 2014. Pic: PA
He claims the song “inadvertently contributed to a broader identity crisis for Africans, portraying the entire continent as one monolithic, war-torn, starving place”.
Band Aid 40 was released last month to mark the song’s 40th anniversary. It is a remix which blends the voices of artists who have featured on previous editions including Harry Styles, George Michael and Bono.
Reacting to recent criticism of the hit, Geldof said earlier this week that none of the arguments put forward by critics like Fuse ODG and Sheeran would “get any oxygen if Band Aid didn’t come out”.
“Sentiment changes, opinions change, theory changes over 40 years, and that’s correct. You can’t stay stuck,” he said while appearing on ITV show Lorraine.
“You’ve got to find different ways of combating these issues and different ways of talking about them and what we’re celebrating here, and none of these arguments will get any oxygen if Band Aid didn’t come out. That’s part of all this.
“So Ed says, ‘This is the way I feel now’. And I’ve put in the call – he’s a really lovely man, he’s an intelligent guy, he’s a major artist and we’ll have a chat and we’ll either agree or disagree but we’ll talk about it.
“But the debate must be made, and it means that we can argue our point of view even more strongly. So that’s where I’m at with this.”
Image: An Israeli attack in Tehran, Iran, ahead of the ceasefire. Pic: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters
Without such preparations, and sometimes even with them, ceasefires will tend to be breached – perhaps by accident, perhaps because one side does not exercise full control over its own forces, perhaps as a result of false alarms, or even because a third party – a guerrilla group or a militia, say – choose that moment to launch an attack of their own.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:23
Timeline of Israel-Iran conflict so far
The important question is whether a ceasefire breach is just random and unfortunate, or else deliberate and systemic – where someone is actively trying to break it.
Either way, ceasefires have to be politically reinforced all the time if they are to hold.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:45
Furious Trump lashes out at Israel and Iran
All sides may need to rededicate themselves to it at regular intervals, mainly because, as genuine enemies, they won’t trust each other and will remain naturally suspicious at every twitch and utterance from the other side.
This is where an external power like the United States plays a critical part.
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
If enemies like Israel and Iran naturally distrust each other and need little incentive to “hit back” in some way at every provocation, it will take US pressure to make them abide by a ceasefire that may be breaking down.
Appeals to good nature are hardly relevant in this respect. An external arbiter has to make the continuance of a ceasefire a matter of hard national interest to both sides.
And that often requires as much bullying as persuasion. It may be true that “blessed are the peacemakers”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given a wide-ranging interview to Sky News in which he was asked about the prospect of Russia attacking NATO, whether he would cede land as part of a peace deal and how to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
“We believe that, starting from 2030, Putin can have significantly greater capabilities,” he said. “Today, Ukraine is holding him up, he has no time to drill the army.”
But while Mr Zelenskyy conceded his ambition to join NATO “isn’t possible now”, he asserted long term “NATO needs Ukrainians”.
US support ‘may be reduced’
Asked about his views on the Israel-Iran conflict, and the impact of a wider Middle East war on Ukraine, Mr Zelenskyy accepted the “political focus is changing”.
“This means that aid from partners, above all from the United States, may be reduced,” he said.
“He [Putin] will increase strikes against us to use this opportunity, to use the fact that America’s focus is changing over to the Middle East.”
On the subject of Mr Putin’s close relationship with Iran, which has supplied Russia with attack drones, Mr Zelenskyy said: “The Russians will feel the advantage on the battlefield and it will be difficult for us.”
Image: Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking to Mark Austin
Trump and Putin ‘will never be friends’
Mr Zelenskyy was sceptical about Mr Putin’s relationship with Donald Trump.
“I truly don’t know what relationship Trump has with Putin… but I am confident that President Trump understands that Ukrainians are allies to America, and the real existential enemy of America is Russia.
“They may be short-term partners, but they will never be friends.”
On his relationship with Mr Trump, Mr Zelenskyy was asked about whether he felt bullied by the US president during their spat in the Oval Office.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
“I believe I conducted myself honestly. I really wanted America to be a strong partner… and to be honest, I was counting on that,” he said.
In a sign of potential frustration, the Ukrainian president added: “Indeed, there were things that don’t bring us closer to ending the war. There were some media… standing around us… talking about some small things like my suit. It’s not the main thing.”
Mr Zelenskyy was clear he supported both a ceasefire and peace talks, adding that he would enter negotiations to understand “if real compromises are possible and if there is a real way to end the war”.
But he avoided directly saying whether he would be willing to surrender four annexed regions of Ukraine, as part of any peace deal.
“I don’t believe that he [Putin] is interested in these four regions. He wants to occupy Ukraine. Putin wants more,” he said.
“Putin is counting on a slow occupation of Ukraine, the reduction in European support and America standing back from this war completely… plus the removal of sanctions.
“But I think the strategy should be as follows: Pressure on Putin with political sanctions, with long-range weapons… to force him to the negotiating table.”
Russia ‘using UK tech for missiles’
On Monday, Mr Zelenskyy met Sir Keir Starmer and agreed to share battlefield technology, boosting Ukraine’s drone production, which Mr Zelenskyy described as a “strong step forward”.
But he also spoke about the failure to limit Russia’s access to crucial technology being used in military hardware.
He said “components for missiles and drones” from countries “including the UK” were being used by Russian companies who were not subject to sanctions.
“It is vitally important for us, and we’re handing these lists [of Russian companies] over to our partners and asking them to apply sanctions. Otherwise, the Russians will have missiles,” he added.
At least 25 people have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire towards people waiting for aid trucks in Gaza, according to witnesses and hospitals.
The Awda hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which received the victims, said the Palestinians were waiting for the trucks on a road south of Wadi Gaza.
Witnesses told the Associated Press (AP) news agency Israeli forces opened fire as people were advancing to be close to the approaching trucks.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:46
Israeli ambassador challenged on Gaza deaths
The Awda hospital said another 146 Palestinians were wounded. Among them were 62 in a critical condition, who were transferred to other hospitals in central Gaza, it added.
In the central town of Deir al-Balah, the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the same incident.
“It was a massacre,” one witness, Ahmed Halawa, said.
He said tanks and drones fired at people, “even as we were fleeing – many people were either martyred or wounded”.
Another witness, Hossam Abu Shahada, said drones were flying over the area, watching the crowds. Then there was gunfire from tanks and drones, leaving a “chaotic and bloody” scene as people attempted to escape.
He said he saw at least three people lying on the ground motionless and many others wounded as he fled.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, described the aid delivery mechanism in Gaza as “an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people”.
He added: “It is a death trap, costing more lives than it saves.”
A spokesperson for the UN’s Human Rights Office said: “The weaponisation of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law.”
Follow The World
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Around 56,000 Palestinians have been killed during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry says more than half of the dead were women and children, but does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, when militants stormed across the border and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements.