The official FIFA World Cup song and video --
entitled "We Are One" by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte -- "is getting decidedly mixed reviews in Brazil, where many locals are complaining of generic foreign rhythms and lazy stereotypes," according to Vincent Bevins of the L.A. TIMES. The song is "sung mostly in English and Spanish, over production with a smattering of Latin touches." After a different version of the song was leaked in Brazil, and "received coldly, it seems producers at FIFA partner Sony went with a drum track performed by Brazilian drum group Olodum." Brazilians on Friday "took to social networks and local culture news outlets to express distaste." Many "simply didn't like the song." By early afternoon Friday, Shakira's "Waka Waka" had "become a trending topic on Twitter in Brazil, as locals said how much they preferred" her World Cup theme song from '10. Then there was the "question of the choice of an American production, in English, set in the USA for a track that offered little of Brazil's abundant native rhythms or its broad cast of beloved musicians." The cause of the "most wincing across this country was the reproduction of the same visual stereotypes which have dominated Brazil's reputation for decades, which many had hoped the 2014 World Cup would help them move past" (
L.A. TIMES, 5/18).
