Stevie Wonder is releasing two brand new inspirational tracks simultaneously as he launches his new record label.
With “Where Is Our Love Song?” and “Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate” released on Tuesday, Wonder is hoping to inspire change and positivity in today’s global climate in the “spirit [of] motivating each other to be better, do better.”
“In this pandemic that we are in we have all lost loved ones, friends, family and again, I think of all of you as family and it breaks my heart to know that anyone has died from this terrible virus,” he says during a virtual press conference with ET Canada.
The first song, “Where Is Our Love Song” asks the question “about where is our respect for one another and our ‘words of hope?'” Wonder says. “Not the kind of hope that leaves others behind but the kind that lifts others up.”
Wonder wrote the melody of the song when he was 18-years-old, but only recently wrote the lyrics to it.
“I just messed around with it and never finished it then there came this here that we’re dealing with and all the confusion,” he says of the pandemic, racial tensions, and political division in the U.S. “Most recently, I was listening to some of the old things I had done but never finished the words to and I was thinking about where we are in the world. This is the most crucial time in the world.”
Recorded at his Wonderland studio with COVID-19 safety protocols in place, “Can’t Put It in The Hands of Fate” features Rapsody, Cordae, Chika, and Busta Rhymes while “Where Is Our Love Song” features Gary Clark Jr. With the tracks, he also launched his What The Fuss Music, distributed by Republic Records/Universal Music Group.
“I am hoping that [the songs] will motivate people to make changes by voting, motivate people by knowing that we have to take action,” he says of the timing of the songs’ release. “Nothing is going to happen without movement. We have to reclaim our love for each other. We have to be truly about it.”
The proceeds from the release of “Where Is Our Love Song” will also go to a good cause.
“I made a decision to do is to give 100 per cent of my proceeds of my record of this song to Feeding America because I know that last year they had to feed 4 billion people and, in speaking to them yesterday, they will need $1 billion dollars because it will increase [this year],” he explains. “We are in a place that we have never been before so if I can do anything to use the gift of song to help to feed people to show my love – not just talk about it but to be about it – it is my joy.”
As part of the press conference, Wonder provided an update on his health following rumours he was ill.
“I was blessed with a new kidney and that happened on Dec. 6, 2019,” he shares. “I feel great, my voice feels great. I feel like I am about 40 right now and I just thank everyone for their prayers and their love. If I’m feeling some kind of way, I’ll let you know.”
“I am alive and well and looking forward to having a self-driving car so I can drive myself,” he jokes.
Listen to “Where Is Our Love Song” and “Can’t Put It In The Hands Of Fate”.
