Lil Dicky Drops Star-Studded Music Video Featuring Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus
Lil Dicky is back — and he brought the Biebs, plus half of Hollywood with him.
The multi-platinum artist just dropped his brand new music video for Earth. It’s not only a song (produced by Benny Blanco and Cashmere Cat), it’s also a short film, a music-led initiative to raise awareness for climate change and an extravagant Earth Day celebration.
Lil Dicky, 31, recruited over 30 artists to appear in the six-minute animated masterpiece, co-directed by Nigel Tierney of Emmy Award-winning content studio RYOT, Federico Heller of 3Dar and Iconic Engine. The group of A-listers (which includes Justin Bieber, Sia, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran and more) lend their voices to anything and everything climate change-related. To name a few: Halsey as a lion cub, Snoop Dogg as Marijuana and Meghan Trainor as India.
He gave fans a preview of the highly anticipated music video during Thursday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The rapper and comedian turned to the live audience and passionately spoke about the “environmental crisis going on right now” before sneaking in a story about how cool Leonardo DiCaprio is.
“I went to his house and we played pickle ball,” Lil Dicky said. “One thing I can tell you is that guy cares so much about the planet. He gets really worked up talking about it.”
Aside from shining a much-needed light on the environment, Lil Dicky is putting his money where his mouth is. He’s teamed up with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (established by the Oscar-winner in 1998 to protect existing ecosystems and restore balance to those already impacted by climate change) to raise what’s sure to be some serious cash for a good cause.
Net profits earned from the song itself, the short film-esque music video and Earth-related merchandise will be distributed to select nonprofits identified by LDF as being on the front lines of implementing solutions to climate change.
Lil Dicky confessed that he didn’t realize the severity of the issue initially. Now that he does, the otherwise silly rapper and comedian is serious about using his art, his platform and his high-profile friends to make a difference.
“I didn’t really realize how insane our climate crisis is and how screwed humanity is about to be,” Lil Dicky said. “It’s full-on crazy! I feel like everybody on the planet should be talking about this 24/7. But that’s not the case. So I wanted to make the most entertaining and epic piece of content possible, to get everyone aware and talking. Because it’s now or never … let’s save the Earth!”
Lil Dicky, who rose to fame after his music video for Ex-Boyfriend went viral on YouTube boasting an impressive one million views in just 24 hours, is no stranger to epic collaborations. Just last year, he scored his first number 1 on the Hot R&B Songs for Freaky Friday featuring Chris Brown — with a memorable cameo from Kendall Jenner.
In addition to a catchy new song and a creatively ambitious music video, Lil Dicky’s Earth project includes an interactive website called We Love the Earth, which aims to educate the public on the realities of climate change. And, in partnership with LDF, it also features interactive tutorials, behind-the-scenes and making-of content tabs, merchandise printed on sustainable materials, and more.
“As activists across the world make their voices heard and inject new life into the environmental movement, we are delighted to be working with Lil Dicky and other collaborating artists to help build even greater support for climate solutions at this critical time,” said Justin Winters, Executive Director of LDF and the One Earth initiative. “We invite everyone to sign the Global Deal for Nature petition to take a stand for our planet.”
