Less than a week ago, producer Swizz Beatz texted Jay-Z and Bono with the idea of collaborating together to benefit the people of Haiti. Tonight, at the Hope For Haiti Now global telethon, the track they wrote makes its debut. Swizz Beatz tells Rolling Stone how it came together:
'The idea of the song is 'We're not gonna leave you stranded' and that's what the chorus is,' explains Swizz. 'So me and Bono started going back and forth with ideas, and he was like, 'You know this word 'stranded' keeps standing out to me' and I asked him to sing it, and he put me on hold 'cause he's recording the ideas on a Dictaphone - so he did it there and then on the phone.'
'I knew that Jay would be able to tell a story, and that Bono would be able to sing and bring it home. The last component that I added was Rihanna, and she's kinda like the angel that's on the track, softening it up and giving it that caring feeling, because this hook is so powerful.'
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