Watch: Did the new FIFA World Cup anthem ‘live it up’ to people’s expectations? Most disagree
The Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi track is giving people some serious nostalgia for the Shakira and Ricky Martin anthems.
Perhaps expectations and the pressure to produce a stellar track wouldn’t be so high if the FIFA World Cup happened every year, as opposed to every four years. Perhaps, with such high expectations, people are simply paving the way for disappointment every four years. But the fact of the matter is, the music video for the 2018 World Cup anthem is out, and people are not happy.
Nicky Jam, Will Smith and Era Istrefi’s song Live It Up is certainly not living it up to people’s expectations, and there is more than one reason for it.
For many on social media, the reason was simply that the song is just not good enough. Several critiqued the fast pace of what they called was primarily a dance tune, noting the Diplo-produced track lacked a “football rhythm” to it. Many, however, struggled to see how the song with its Latin-American sound, and the musicians – American, Puerto Rican and Albanian, respectively – fit in with the tournament’s host country, Russia, or even with the World Cup since none of those countries is participating this year.
Mostly, however, the release of the music video just made people nostalgic for popular World Cup anthems in the past such as Shakira’s Waka Waka, which seems to be the most popular thus far, and Ricky Martin’s The Cup of Life.
However, all may not be lost. It does come with a pretty cool music video (above) which not only preaches a message of unity – “Where there is unity, there is always victory” – but also boasts a special appearance from former Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho.
The new World Cup song #LiveItUp is terrible. Nothing will ever beat Shakiras Waka Waka in my opinion
— Noah (@noahdino15) May 25, 2018
#LiveItUp lacks the dynamic #WorldCup vibe to it. No football rhythm. No zeal. It's like a shoddy dance club song, basically an utter let-down. @FIFAWorldCup While I can't wait for the tournament to start, why are your official songs getting worse and worse over the years? pic.twitter.com/tRiBR2mzMs
— Urvashi Phagoo (@Lil_Miss_UP) May 27, 2018
The World Cup song doesn’t have any football ring to it. Blegh. How is Messi gonna dance to Live it up?!
— Arla (@arla__l) May 25, 2018
Probably the worst world cup song I ever heard.
— M Squared (@_Zwoluga) June 10, 2018
This is awesome! It’s a fact that no song can rival Wavin Flag, Waka waka and La Copa de la vida but this one definitely has the World Cup vibe to it. It’ll be better when the video come out.
— Rithik Mohammed (@Ikkappa) May 25, 2018
But just in case you still need to get your motors running and excited for the World Cup and this song just didn’t do it for you, here’s a throwback to some of the most popular anthems from the past: