Braondon McFarland, second from right, in the studio with Youth Radio musicians Rayana Godfrey, Evan “YT” Childress and Skylar Bryant. Courtesy of Youth Radio

At the end of yesterday’s review of John Legend’s performance commemorating the 40th anniversary of D.C. native Marvin Gaye’s Kennedy Center concert, there was the mention of a group of young artists who’d been tasked with giving Gaye’s classic album, What’s Going On, a 2012 makeover.

Oakland, Ca.-based Brandon McFarland, who also goes by 1-O.A.K., had the opportunity to remix the album’s title track. As McFarland detailed in a piece for NPR, remaking the song was an incredibly delicate process. After all, What’s Going On is What’s Going On. Every cut on the album is a snap shot of one of the most difficult periods of time in U.S. history put to beautiful lyric and song.

So how did McFarland and his contemporaries do with their update? Take a listen for yourself: