Mas que nada

"Mas que nada" (pronounced [ma(j)s ki ˈnadɐ] in Brazilian Portuguese) is a song by Jorge Ben (now Jorge Ben Jor). It was first recorded in 1962 by Carioca bossa nova musician and bandleader Zé Maria on the album Tudo Azul - Bossa E Balanço, with Ben singing lead vocals.

Ben released his own version a year later on his debut album Samba Esquema Novo, which also came out as a single in 1964. In the years that followed, other prominent Brazilian artists covered it, including Tamba Trio in 1963 and Luis Carlos Vinhas in 1964. The Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone ranked it the fifth-greatest Brazilian song, and it entered the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012.

José Prates song

The song’s melody and vocalizations trace back to a 1958 track called "Nanã Imborô" by Brazilian artist José Prates, from his album Tam... Tam... Tam...! (Polydor Brasil – LPNG 4.016). These motifs later appeared in Jorge Ben’s "Mas que nada" and were further highlighted in Sérgio Mendes’s 1966 arrangement.

Sérgio Mendes versions

Sérgio Mendes covered the song with his band Brasil ’66 on their debut album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (1966). In the United States, the single reached number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Easy Listening chart; in Canada, it peaked at number 54. Outside Brazil, this version is more widely known than Ben’s original and is often considered definitive. Mendes re-recorded it in 1989 on his album Arara.

1998 Nike Commercial and Resurgence

In 1998, Tamba Trio’s 1963 recording was used in Nike’s "Airport '98" television commercial, broadcast ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The ad, directed by John Woo, featured Brazil national team players Ronaldo, Romário, and Roberto Carlos playing football in an airport terminal. The commercial’s success led Tamba Trio to re-release the song as a single.

Although the Tamba Trio version features a prominent saxophone solo and differs from Mendes’s arrangement, it is often mistaken for Mendes’s 1966 recording. The campaign was widely praised as one of the greatest sports ads ever, reintroducing the song to a new international audience and cementing it as an anthem for Brazilian football. This renewed popularity paved the way for Mendes to re-record the song in 2006 with the Black Eyed Peas.

With the Black Eyed Peas

That 2006 version, featuring Mendes’s wife Gracinha Leporace and a sample of the Black Eyed Peas’ 2004 single "Hey Mama," appeared on Mendes’s album Timeless.