Beyoncé Contributes Her Voice Towards Hurricane Relief

Corey Ocasio, Writer

After taking a hiatus due to the birth of her twins, singer-songwriter Beyoncé surprised fans around the the world when she featured on a remix of “Mi Gente”, originally recorded by Colombian artist J Balvin and French artist Willy William, that was released on iTunes Thursday, Sept. 28.

 

Proceeds coming from the song will go towards benefiting Puerto Rico, Mexico, Florida, and other places in the Caribbean that were recently affected by catastrophe. She also will be donating the earnings to her hometown of Houston, Texas which was hit by Hurricane Harvey last month.

 

“I’m really glad about what Beyonce is doing to help out,” avid music listener Jennifer Montero,12, said. “It shows that she‘s really making an effort to somehow cooperate with the issue.”

 

The remixed version of the Reggaeton-style record, which translates to “My People” in English, was revealed to fans through a post shared by Knowles on her Instagram account the same night.  

 

“I am donating my proceeds from this song to hurricane relief charities for Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the other affected Caribbean islands,” Knowles commented on Instagram. “To help go to Beyonce.com/reliefefforts.”

 

The uptempo beat of the song paired with lyrics sung in Spanish, English, and even traces of French together are meant to uplift the communities of Latin America that have been devastated by natural disasters.  

Beyonce fans, such as senior Talia Orozco, instantly gravitated towards its accompanying music video which is packed with snippets of people dancing and includes cameos from recognizable celebs ranging from soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo to DJ and record producer Diplo.

 

“The visual is my favorite part of the song because it’s really fun and has a lot of diversity,” Orozco said. “It’s really cool that it includes people of different cultures and ethnicities and is sung in different languages.”

 

Students, for the most part, were impressed after listening to “Mi Gente” with senior Ariel Molina praising Knowles’ versatility and her cross-over to the Latin genre of music.

 

“I think the song is really cool and it’s very catchy and has a nice rhythm to it.” Molina said. “She [Beyoncé] should sing in Spanish a lot more because she sounds really good doing it.”

 

Knowles, along with husband and rapper, Jay-Z, will be continuing to help benefit the cause through other efforts. Aside from the song, the couple will be holding a concert dedicated to relief efforts on Oct. 17 at the Barclay’s Center located in Brooklyn with expected performances from high-profile entertainers such as Jennifer Lopez and Chris Brown.