Rapper Jay-Z has teamed up with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the president of MTV, Christina Norman, to raise awareness to the world’s water crisis.

The group wants to bring as much attention as they can to the communities that are being ruined by the lack of clean drinking water.

Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, will be using his upcoming tour to travel to the areas that are being damaged by the water crisis. His journey will be broadcast by MTV.

“It’s a basic thing to us,” Jay Z said. “If you bring awareness to other young people, they’re going to see [that] and want to be involved. I’m not a politician — I’m just a regular person with a heart. If you see a problem like that and do nothing about it, there’s something wrong with you.”

Statistics show that more than 4,500 children are killed daily from preventable diseases because of poor sanitation and lack of clean water.

“I wanted to go to these [countries I've never visited before] to just tour and play music. Of course, I can’t go to any place without touching the culture and seeing what’s going on. When you start getting down to Africa and places like that, you see that billions of people don’t have access to water,” he said, reports MTV.

The 36-year-old rapper wants everyone to get involved, from the public to his friends in the entertainment industry.

He also hopes that his music can play a part in helping the victims deal with their horrifying experience.

“Music is escapism,” said Jay Z. “Also, I’ll take joy in the fact for that two hours or however long I’m playing, everyone can enjoy themselves and forget about the issue we’re talking about,” reports MTV.

His international tour is set to begin next month in Poland and his MTV special, “Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life,” airs on November 24.






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