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Nicki Minaj, Maluma & Myriam Fayes aim for magic with the World Cup anthem ‘Tukoh Taka’

LiFTED ranks the top 5 World Cup anthems

LiFTED | Marcus Aurelius | 22 Nov 2022


On Friday, November 19, Hip Hop goddess Nicki Minaj, Colombian reggaeton artist Maluma, and Lebanese singer Myriam Fayes released the cross-cultural World Cup anthem for 2022 ‘Tukoh Taka.’ The trilingual track is the equivalent of knock knock or klick klack, symbolizing the quick passes football players make while running the field.

Even though the song has 17 million views in the three days since it was released and Nicki’s stans called the Barbz love it, others are unimpressed.

LiFTED decided to rank the top five World Cup songs to kick the tournament off.

1 Waka Waka [This Time for Africa] by Shakira

This song is the winner and it’s not even close. It’s sold more, has one of the most-viewed YouTube videos of all time, and is still played in clubs to this day. Without looking down, can you even name another World Cup song?

FIFA was criticized in 2010 for having Shakira on the track since the World Cup was in South Africa. Also, the track borrows so heavily from the Cameroonian song "Zamina mina (Zangaléwa)" by Golden Sounds that FIFA had to pay to settle the court case. But none of this matters as soon as people hear the lyrics, “So this is Africa.” ‘Waka Waka’ brings back memories of better times and vuvuzelas.

2 Wavin' Flag by K’naan

If there was another song you remembered, it would have been ‘Wavin’ Flag’ by Canadian-Somali artists K’naan. This song was not officially a World Cup song, but we’re going to include it here because it’s pretty good. The song was used as Coca-Cola’s promotional anthem for the 2010 World Cup. The song hit number one in Canada, had remixes by will.i.am and David Guetta, and was used as a charity single to help Haiti after their devastating earthquake.

3 ‘Tukoh Taka’ by Nicki Minaj, Maluma & Myriam Fayes

This one gets stuck right in the middle because it’s not bad, but it’s no ‘Waka Waka.’ Since it was only released three days ago, there’s still time for it to catch on, but the general consensus is that it’s another average-at-best World Cup anthem.

4 Ole Ola [We Are One] by Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez

With an eye on recreating that ‘Waka Waka’ magic, the 2014 World Cup anthem, Ole Ola [We Are One], is instantly forgettable. Even with two of the biggest stars in the world, the song just didn’t feel Brazilian enough for the World Cup held in the home of the most successful nation in football history.

5 Live It Up by Nicky Jam, Will Smith & Era Istrefi [produced by Diplo]

On paper, all these artists make sense because Diplo is an expert at fusing various styles to make interesting tracks. In reality, Nicky Jam, Will Smith, and Era Istrefi didn’t work out and this song is so bad, it could be the soundtrack to how Qatar got the World Cup in the first place.