Coca-Cola today officially released the 2018 FIFA World Cup global anthem – “Colours” – created in partnership with global music superstar, Jason Derulo.
A true collaboration between Coca-Cola and Jason Derulo, “Colours” celebrates all of the vibrancy and excitement that comes with the arrival of the world’s biggest football tournament.
A localized version has been created by 2017 Coke Studio artist Tugume Wycliff, most commonly known as ‘Ykee Benda’ to uniquely celebrate Uganda’s passion for football. Other top artists – Diamond Platnumz, South Africa’s Cassper Nyovest, Ethiopia’s Sami Dan and Mozambique’s Lizha James have also worked on localized versions to depict the colours and styles of their different countries.
Ricardo Fort, VP of Global Sports Partnerships at The Coca-Cola Company said, “We know that the FIFA World Cup is a global cultural and social phenomenon. Every four years, people are drawn to this event from all over the world due to the excitement and platform it provides. We believe that music and football are intrinsically linked by the passions they evoke so we are excited to welcome Jason to the team and can’t wait to bring this upbeat anthem to the world ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™”.
Coca-Cola Uganda Brand Manager Ms. Miriam Limo expressed pride at the international recognition that this global endeavor has created for Ykee Benda and the other local artists.
“Providing a platform for renowned as well as upcoming and less mainstream artists to collaborate musically is the backbone of Coke Studio and we at Coca-Cola are always proud to see one of our local artists get recognized internationally. Having 2017 Coke Studio representative Ykee Benda participate in such a global project signifies the impact that the Coke Studio initiative has not only on the participating artists but also on Africa and the rest of the world,” she noted.
‘Ykee Benda’ is a Ugandan musician and producer, who is signed on to Badi Music Label. Some of his popular songs include Kyenkyebula, Munakampala, Farmer and Malaika. He made his debut on Coke Studio Africa 2017 in the Big Break Segment collaborating with Jah Prayzah (Zimbabwe) and Mr. Bow (Mozambique). That same year, he went on to win Breakthrough Artist and Best Collaboration of the Year in the Zzina Awards.
“Colours” will become the sound track to fans’ excitement for the tournament, as it begins playing across the world in the build up to the kick off.
Jason Derulo added, “I was honored to work with Coca-Cola to create an anthem celebrating every team and their fans. ‘Colours’ represents the different flags and cultures from around the world, and will get everyone moving to a unifying beat. I’m excited to finally tell the world about this partnership as the excitement builds for the FIFA World Cup.”
A sneak peek of the behind the scenes content and snippets of the global song can be found here.