The first ever Music For Pixels song is YouTube’s #1 R&B band AHMIR’s cover of ‘The Rose’ – the song about hope, love and surviving tough times that was first made famous by Bette Midler.
When asked why they selected ‘The Rose’ as their contribution to the campaign, AHMIR explained: “‘The Rose’ is such a classic song that has transcended generations because of its beautiful lyrics and emotional sentiment that tugs at your heart strings. We felt that if we could use such a powerful song to carry this message that it would resonate well with audiences today, both young and old, and most importantly for future generations.
In honour of the launch of ‘The Rose’ music video and to help raise awareness about Violence Against Women,The Pixel Project invited musicians to submit a YouTube music video of their cover of ‘The Rose’ for our first YouTube Cover Carnival.
We had 5 brave souls step up to sing their very personal versions of ‘The Rose’ as a way of saying NO to violence against women straight from their hearts and they are listed below in alphabetical order and will shortly be added to our soon-to-come YouTube Cover Carnival Gallery.
(Want to join our next YouTube Cover Carnival to use your musical skills to say NO to violence against women? More details will be announced soon!)
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Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 1: Anjeza
Albania-born and Los Angeles-based Singer/Songwriter/Actress/Dancer/Model/Writer/Humanitarian Anjeza who actively uses her music to speak up against human trafficking immediately said ‘yes’ when our Music For Pixels Campaign Co-Coordinator, Gia Ibarra, invited her to record her version of ‘The Rose’ for the campaign. Here is Anjeza’s modern version of the song*:
*Trigger warning: There is literal imagery in this music video that may be disturbing to recovering survivors.
Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 2: Dante Deo
Dante Deo is a huge AHMIR fan and budding singer-songwriter who responded to AHMIR’s call for submissions for the YouTube Cover Carnival. Here is his take on ‘The Rose’:
Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 3: Donna
Donna is a survivor of Domestic Violence who says: “My guitar playing is a little rusty even though I have been playing almost all my life, the singing I think is OK but the recording quality not the best, the thing is I just want to add my VOICE to this important cause and worthy project that needs people to speak out, sing out, and do everything possible to end domestic violence.”
Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 4: Gail Whitmore
Here is what Gail Whitmore had to say about why she submitted her a cappella version of ‘The Rose’:
“As the Human Jukebox I perform from a list of 2,000 songs whatever the audience hollers out at me. The songs range from opera to rock to gospel to rap to musicals to TV commercials. We have a lot of fun.
As Gail Whitmore I am a dedicated human rights activist. I have been working with V-Day and HollaBack! for years and am honored to be doing this for The Pixel Project now when so many voices are needed in so many different ways.”
Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 5: William Kiley Smith
William Kiley Smith says: “Violence is humiliation Violence is hate. Humiliation and hate are control. And we all know control of another human mentally or physical is slavery, let my people go, get up stand up however you want to say it take a stand and get passionate about something so serious and unneeded as fear and hate at the hands of someone who calms love for you but declares war.”
Here is his upbeat version of ‘The Rose’:
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Why not download ‘The Rose’ to help spread awareness about Violence Against Women? Proceeds go to The Pixel Project’s Celebrity Male Role Model campaign in aid of the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation.
You can download the song at http://bit.ly/TheRosePixel
Before buying, have a listen via the music video PSA below to learn some key global statistics about violence against women: