Will Smith Is Going To Perform The Official World Cup Anthem And It Better Just Be "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"
Hollywood Reporter - Will Smith and Nicky Jam, together with Kosovo singer Era Istrefi, will perform the official 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia song, according to published reports and independent sources. The track is being produced by Diplo.
The news was first reported by Vibe and Colombian radio station W Radio on Monday and confirmed independently by Billboard with sources close to the project.
First of all, I’m counting this as another championship for the city of Philadelphia. Every 4 years the World Cup rolls around. And every 4 years, the World Cup Anthem becomes the hottest track of the summer. In 2014 it was Pitbull with “We Are One”. An absolute heater of a track. In 2010 it was Shakira with “Waka Waka” and I’m pretty sure my hips haven’t stopped moving to that song since. In 1998 Ricky Martin had “The Cup of Life” and it is still to this date the sexiest song ever recorded. So now this year, when the world is in desperate need of the hottest song of the summer, there is no place else to turn but to the city of Philadelphia. Not only is Will Smith going to be lending his talents to the 2018 World Cup Anthem, but it is also being produced by Diplo who went to Temple. So yeah. Not a big deal or anything.
But here’s the thing. Imagine if you’re an executive at Fox Sports. You guys spent all this goddamn money for the broadcasting rights to a tournament in which USA isn’t even playing in. Right now it’s looking like a pretty horrible investment. I mean people are obviously still going to watch the World Cup but it’s not going to be as much of an event with Team Freedom in the mix. So what you need to do is figure out a way to still draw everybody in. You want as many eyeballs on the product as possible. And what’s the easiest way to catch peoples’ attention as they’re flipping through the channels? Easy. You give the people what they want.
Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It is over 20 years old at this point. And for 20+ years in a row, it has been one of the greatest tracks in the history of the world. A first-ballot Hall of Famer banger. Now maybe they can spice it up a little with Diplo involved but for the most part, I believe this falls under the category of “work smart, not hard”. Why waste all this time and energy on creating a new song when you already have the best song already just waiting for you to smash the play button? It is written in law that if “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” ever comes on, you have to keep it on until completion. Not that anybody would ever consider turning it off on their own, but it is highly illegal. So now Fox Sports is pretty much able to fish with dynamite. Anybody who is flipping through the channels is going to hear “Na na na na na na na nana, Na na na na nana”, they’ll have to stay on that channel until at least the song is over. Then they’ll realize there’s a match going on between Spain and Portugal, decide to keep it on for a little, then “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” plays again, and then boom, there are the ratings you’re looking for. It’s as simple as that.
