Rapper Fuse ODG releases Band Aid rebuttal music video

Speaking to the BBC Breakfast last month, Fuse ODG commented that while the original Band Aid project had been “touching” and well-intentioned, the lyrics and connected images were now having a damaging effect and stopping people from visiting Africa.

“It’s been touching seeing the efforts that were put into it initially, the British public and different celebrities coming together to support a good cause, because there was a crisis at the time they needed attending to,” he said.

“I have no problem with that, I think that was fantastic, and even just watching it back, I’m even getting emotional.”

“But in that act of kindness, in that process of trying to help a crisis, we created another identity crisis,” he continued.

“As a child who’s now grown up in this era of images like that, Band Aid and initiatives like it have put Africa as a place of famine, a place of poverty, disease-filled.

“It took away our collective sense of pride and identity. So in the middle of trying to solve a temporary crisis, we’ve caused another dangerous crisis, which is an identity crisis for a whole continent.”

He went on to tell BBC Africa that despite having been “excited” initially to be invited to take part in the latest rendtion of star-studded charity track, that his over-arching “mission” as an artist was to “realign how the world sees Africa and how Africans feel about themselves”.

“It hit me that the images that the Band Aid project portrays just did not align with our mission to portray Africa in a positive light.”