Black Eyed Peas hitmaker will.i.am released a song in support of Vice President Kamala Harris—directly alluding to the song he produced in support of former President Barack Obama’s first campaign 16 years ago.
In a post on social media, will.i.am, whose real name is William Adams, called his new song “a heartfelt anthem celebrating Kamala Harris and the power of every people.”
“I wanted to score the movement, and create a call to action, and promise of what we can achieve together,” the “Boom Boom Pow” songwriter wrote on Instagram.
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The song’s melody and concept is almost identical to Adams’ 2008 promotional single “Yes We Can,” written in support of then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Both feature the same simple acoustic guitar riff and footage of Adams peering into the camera.
The 2008 version features black-and-white footage of celebrities including John Legend, Common, and Nicole Scherzinger singing along to the recording of the famous “Yes we can” speech Obama made after conceding the 2008 New Hampshire primary.
The updated version is shorter, clocking in at just one minute and 43 seconds. Rather than cribbing the lyrics from a speech by Kamala Harris, the “I Gotta Feeling” singer drops lyrics like “Haters gonna say that we can’t/But the word American says that ‘I can.’”
It also ditches the black-and-white aesthetic of the original, replacing it with color footage of people voting, the Statue of Liberty, and the Jan. 6 Capitol riots while Adams rhymes: “we used to be united in America/Now we just divided in America.”
The last 40 seconds of the track just feature will.i.am repeating the phrase “yes she can.”
