The single “I Got Soul” recorded by War Child’s “Young Soul Rebels” nabbed the BeMOBO award at the British MOBO (Music of black origin) awards in Glasgow, Scotland Wednesday night.
Of the charity, awards show organizers said “War Child is a unique child protection charity, who mirroring MOBO’s own ethos uses the power of music as a positive force to break down barriers and make positive changes in the world.”
This latest venture of War Child took shape after the Brit Awards in London last February. At a star-studded after party hosted by War Child, the bands Coldplay, U2 and Take That joined The Killers onstage for an impromptu chorus of their song ”All These Things That I’ve Done.” Together they chanted the refrain “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier” to an audience of just 2,000.
The next day, on British radio, Bono said of the lyrics, “they have a whole new meaning when there is a War Child banner behind your head…” A new tag line had been born for the charity and along with it, the idea for this latest project.
The single, “I Got Soul” is a version of the original “Killers” song performed by some of the UK’s hottest urban music acts including N-Dubz, Tinchy Stryder, Pixie Lott, VV Brown, Ironik, Bashy, McLean, Egypt and the London Community Gospel Choir
The video of “I Got Soul” was released on Sept 7 exclusive to the War Child YouTube channel but the live televised performance Wednesday night was the first time “Young Soul Rebels” performed the song together. The single itself will be released on Oct 19th.
The BeMOBO award was created by MOBO organizers four years ago to acknowledge organizations or individuals that have gone beyond the call of duty, shown outstanding courage, and made a major difference. War Child was recognized by MOBO as the only child protection agency to have been successful in separating children from adults in Afghanistan prisons; and is the only international organization working with ex-child soldiers in the Northern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Awards organizers said, “If the ‘Young Soul Rebels’ single encourages just a handful of teenagers in the UK to think about the struggle their peers face across the world, it will be worth it.”
All proceeds from the single to directly to the charity. To watch the video and purchase the song click here.
Photo courtesy of hdptcar via Flickr.