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Watch: Philly’s Lil Dicky saves the ‘Earth,’ with Joel Embiid and Kevin Hart (as Kanye West)

The Elkins Park-reared rapper has created his own "We are the World."

A scenes from Lil Dicky's 'Earth'
A scenes from Lil Dicky's 'Earth'Read moreRYOT

Is Lil Dicky’s “Earth” the new “We are the World”?

Dicky, the Elkins Park-reared rapper and comedian born David Andrew Burd, is not known as a serious man.

But he has something to say about climate change and the costs of environmental devastation on his new song “Earth,” which arrived on Friday with a star-studded animated video.

Its long list of singers, rappers and celebrity voicers playing living things include Ariana Grande (as a zebra), Justin Bieber (a baboon), Katy Perry (a pony), Miley Cyrus (an elephant), Hailie Steinfeld (a common fungus), Ed Sheeran (a koala) and Snoop Dogg (a marijuana plant). Lil Yachty plays the HPV virus.

Dicky’s “Earth” is also Philly-centric. Kevin Hart, who is executive producer of Dicky’s as yet untitled upcoming FX sitcom in which he plays “a suburban neurotic man in his late twenties who has convinced himself that he’s destined to be one of the best rappers of all time,” appears in the video as “Kanye West.”

Sixers center Joel Embiid is also heard, not as an animal, but in tribute to an entire continent. The Cameroonian hoopster’s one line is to sing "We love you Africa,” in a casting decision that at least makes geographical sense. I’m not sure how Meghan Trainor got to do the honors in praise of “India” or that Torey Lanez should be be the one to profess the rest of the world’s affection for China.

Dicky also takes it upon himself to “forgive” Germany in the song, presumably for the Holocaust, which the rapper, who the video’s credits list as playing “Mankind,” does as his computer generated self hoists a beer while wearing a loincloth.

University of Pennsylvania grad John Legend is apart of the “Earth” vocal chorus, along with Psy, Bad Bunny and Kris Wu. The video is directed by Nigel Tierney of content studio RYOT and produced in conjunction with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to non-profits combatting climate change. More info is at WeLoveTheEarth.org.