Global superstar Shakira has shared how she made ‘Dai Dai’ the 2026 FIFA World Cup anthem feat Burna Boy.
In a recent interview, Shakira shared how her hit collaboration ‘Dai Dai’ with Burna Boy came about. According to the Colombian megastar, the song, which is the official anthem for the just-concluded 2026 FIFA World Cup, had Afrobeats vibes alongside Caribbean elements and prompted her to feature an Afrobeats artist on the song.
“Once I had the song, I felt that I needed a male vocal, a male voice in the song, because the World Cup carries a big male energy. So I was like, “Who’s going to give me that masculine voice and that Afrobeats setting?” because the song is very Afrobeats with some Caribbean sound and R&B, but it’s mostly Afrobeats.”
The Grammy winner shared that she has always been a fan of Burna Boy and wanted to do a song with him, hence how he became her number one choice for the song.
“I always loved Burna and wanted to do something with him. So I called him and asked if he’s down to do this; he said why not and it took a while. I was like waiting for 20 days for him to send something, and I was thinking he wasn’t going to do it. Then he sent his magic, and it was perfect,” Shakira said on how her dream of working with Burna Boy became a reality.
Since its release on May 14, ‘Dai Dai’ has enjoyed huge commercial success across streaming platforms and global charts. The music video has already surpassed 500 million views on YouTube and over 230 million streams on Spotify.
Following their performance at the inaugural World Cup Half-Time Show, the song has soared across streaming charts globally. The hit record is now occupying the top spot on the Apple Music Global Top 100 chart, which makes Burna Boy only the second Nigerian artist to achieve this feat.
Burna Boy joins Tems, who reached the top of the chart thanks to her appearance on American rapper Future‘s 2022 hit song ‘Wait for U’ alongside Drake.
This remarkable feat reiterates Burna Boy’s status as one of African pop music’s leading protagonists as he continues to break new ground globally.
Burna Boy made history at the FIFA World Cup when he became the first African artist to perform at the opening ceremony and the halftime show of a FIFA World Cup.
Recently, the Grammy-winning Afrofusion star Burna Boy has been declared the best-selling African artist of all time.
Quoting data from global music consumption data aggregator Chartmaster, Nigerian music news platform Debut Hub reports that the Port Harcourt-born singer has been declared the best-selling African artist of all time.
Chartmaster reports that the multi-award-winning global sensation has sold 14.46 million equivalent album sales from the billions of streams his albums have garnered across streaming platforms.
