Global pop star, Shakira, has revealed why she chose Nigerian Afrobeats singer, Burna Boy, for the official 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem, Dai Dai, saying she wanted a strong masculine voice to complement the song\u2019s Afrobeat-inspired sound.\n<\/p>\n
Speaking in an interview that aired on July 8 on capital evening show with jimmy hill, the Colombian singer said the song\u2019s energy and musical direction made Burna Boy the perfect choice for the collaboration.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, once I had the song, I felt that I really needed a male vocal, a male voice in the song.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, because the World Cup carries a big male energy, you know? And so I was like, who can give me that, you know, very masculine voice that I want in this sort of like Afrobeat setting?\u201dshe said.<\/p>\n
According to Shakira, the song blends several musical influences but is primarily rooted in Afrobeats.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this song is very Afrobeat-y, but it also has some Caribbean sounds and a little bit of, like, R&B-ish, but it\u2019s mostly Afrobeat,\u201d she explained.\n<\/p>\n
The Grammy-winning singer added that she had admired Burna Boy\u2019s music for years and had always wanted to collaborate with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I always loved Burna. I always wanted to do something with him,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Shakira disclosed that although Burna Boy initially took about 20 days to send his contribution, she never stopped hoping the collaboration would happen.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I called him. I\u2019m like, \u2018Hey, are you down to do this?\u2019 And he\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, why not?\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a while. I was waiting for 20 days for him to send something. And I\u2019m like, \u2018Okay, maybe he\u2019s not going to do it.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n
She said the wait proved worthwhile after Burna Boy eventually delivered his verse.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then he sent his magic and it was just absolutely perfect.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI think his voice is just\u2026 It works so well on this song. So well. I couldn\u2019t imagine anybody else on it, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shakira further admitted she had been determined to secure Burna Boy\u2019s participation on the record.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so obsessed about having Burna on this track. I\u2019m so glad that I got him,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
PUNCH Online reports that Dai Dai served as the official song of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.\n<\/p>\n
Shakira and Burna Boy first performed the track during the tournament\u2019s opening ceremony on June 11, 2026, at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.\n<\/p>\n
The duo reunited for another performance during the first-ever FIFA World Cup final halftime show on July 19, 2026, at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where they were joined by Uganda\u2019s Ghetto Kids dance group.\n<\/p>\n
The collaboration marked Shakira\u2019s latest contribution to FIFA World Cup music following the success of Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), the official song of the 2010 tournament. Burna Boy\u2019s appearance also highlighted Afrobeats\u2019 growing influence on the global music stage, with Dai Dai emerging as one of the tournament\u2019s biggest songs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Global pop star, Shakira, has revealed why she chose Nigerian Afrobeats singer, Burna Boy, for the official 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1111928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3940],"tags":[218847,73273,4080,303157,77,3785,19560,75473,303158,303159,303160,218850,53644,16,15,303161],"class_list":["post-1111927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-afrobeats","tag-burna-boy","tag-celebrities","tag-dai-dai","tag-entertainment","tag-entertainment-news","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-ghetto-kids","tag-global-music","tag-music-collaboration","tag-nigerian-music","tag-shakira","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-world-cup-anthem"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1111927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1111927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1111928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1111927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1111927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1111927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}