Rapper and head of Def Jam Records Jay-Z has set his sights on educating young people about the world's water crisis.
Jay-Z - aka Shawn Carter - spoke with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the UN headquarters in New York, telling a news conference that he wanted to get children involved in the battle to provide adequate water supplies for the world's poor. He said that his world tour, which commences on September 9, will take in dates in poor regions which lack clean water.Mr Annan said that more than 1 billion people lack safe drinking water, while 2.6 million have no access to proper sanitation.
"As I started looking around and looking at ways that I could become helpful, it started at the first thing - water, something as simple as water," Jay-Z said. "It took very little, very little to see these numbers ... Young people need to know the problem exists."
Jay-Z also announced that MTV film crews will document his world tour for the program 'The Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life'. The rapper will narrate the documentary, which will air in the US on November 24.
