"Live It Up" | ||||
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Single by Nicky Jam featuring Will Smith and Era Istrefi | ||||
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Released | May 25, 2018 | |||
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Length | 3:28 | |||
Label | Sony Latin | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Nicky Jam singles chronology | ||||
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Will Smith singles chronology | ||||
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Era Istrefi singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Live It Up" on YouTube |
"Live It Up" is a song by the American singer Nicky Jam featuring the American rapper Will Smith and the Kosovo Albanian singer Era Istrefi. [1] It was used as the official song of the 2018 FIFA World Cup held in Russia. [2] The track was produced by Diplo,The Picard Brothers and Free School,and was released on May 25,2018. [3] The song reached number one in Panama,and the top 10 in Hungary,Poland,Bolivia and Argentina. It received negative reviews,with many criticizing its generic,synthetic sound and detachment between the song's genre and the tournament's host country,Russia.
Jam,Smith and Istrefi performed the song at the closing ceremony on 15 July 2018 at the Luzhniki Stadium before the final between France and Croatia. [4]
The music video for the song was released on June 8,2018. It shows Jam,Smith and Istrefi,and the Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho,among images from the 2014 tournament. The video was directed by Yasha Malekzad,produced by Kasra Pezeshki and was filmed mainly in Moscow and Budapest,Hungary. By May 2021,the video had amassed over 218 million views on YouTube . However,it was later unlisted,possibly due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The song received mixed to negative reviews. Roisin O'Connor of The Independent rated it with one out of five stars,criticiszed the track's "generic message" and called it a "blatant attempt to cash in on the music industry's current obsession with Latin American music,but the entire song makes zero sense when you remember the World Cup is being held in Russia this year". [5] Ed Malyon of the same outlet criticized its "synthetic joy" and called it "the epitome of a try-hard creation that lacks much of what makes music great–inspiration and raw emotion–and lays on thick the things that we couldn't care less about–meaningless,directionless lyrics and a tiresome wailing from Istrefi,whose songwriting talent has clearly not been drawn on for this tragic effort". [6] Dave Fawbert of ShortList named it the ninth worst World Cup song of all time,criticizing its lyrics:"The words in the chorus just don't fit. 'One life live it up cos you don't get it twice'[ sic ] is just unbelieveably clunky",and expressing confusion as to "why a World Cup in Russia should have a reggaeton anthem,while the shoehorning in of different artists in order to satisfy all global demographics is just patently cynical". [7]
The song was met with mixed reviews from fans. [8] Business Standard reported,"'Live It Up' has failed in getting a welcome reception from the fans. People on Twitter are requesting Shakira for a new song. Some have even asked FIFA to change the song." It further highlighted fans' statements that they would stick to K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" and Shakira's "Waka Waka",and the detachment between the song's genre and the tournament's host country. [4] Scroll observed that fans "critiqued the fast pace of what they called was primarily a dance tune,noting the Diplo-produced track lacked a 'football rhythm' to it" and were "nostalgic for popular World Cup anthems in the past such as Shakira's 'Waka Waka' ... and Ricky Martin's 'The Cup of Life'". [9]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Mexico (AMPROFON) [31] | Gold | 30,000 |
Poland (ZPAV) [32] | Platinum | 50,000 |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [33] | Gold | 10,000 |
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
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Various | 25 May 2018 | Sony |
Nick Rivera Caminero,known professionally as Nicky Jam,is an American singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as "X","Travesuras","En la Cama","Te Busco","El Perdón","Hasta el Amanecer",and "El Amante";the latter three are from his 2017 album Fénix. He has frequently collaborated with other Latin artists such as Daddy Yankee,J Balvin,Ozuna,Plan B and Anuel AA. While his early music exemplified traditional fast-paced reggaeton,his newer compositions place more emphasis on sung vocals and romantic lyrics.
"The Cup of Life" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his fourth studio album,Vuelve (1998). Martin created the song after FIFA requested of him an anthem. The song was written by Luis Gómez Escolar,Desmond Child,and Draco Rosa,while the production was handled by the latter two. It was released by Columbia Records on March 9,1998,as the second single from the album,and became the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. A primarily Spanish language samba-rooted Latin pop song,it carries a soccer-heavy message with fully positive lyrics.
Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23,2012,Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music,giving its artists access to Sony's international marketing and promotional resources.
"Together Now" is a collaboration between French composer/producer Jean Michel Jarre and Japanese composer/producer Tetsuya Komuro. It was the France 1998 FIFA World Cup theme song. Olivia Lufkin was the vocalist and the lyricist for this song. "Together Now" also features as track 15 of Music of the World Cup:Allez! Ola! Ole!. However,the single was only retailed in Japan. Surprisingly,despite both Lufkin and Tetsuya Komuro being under Avex,the single itself was released under SMEJ. The single reached number 32 on the Oricon charts and charted for 10 weeks.
"Wavin' Flag" is a song by Somali-Canadian artist K'naan from his album Troubadour. The song was originally written for Somalia and aspirations of its people for freedom. The original single was a hit in Canada and reached number two on the Canadian Hot 100 as the second official single from the album,after the single "ABCs",a minor hit. After an earthquake in Haiti in 2010,a remake of the song by an ad hoc supergroup of Canadian artists,credited as Young Artists for Haiti,became a charity single in Canada,reaching number one on the Canadian Hot 100 in its own right.
"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)",also known as "Waka Waka (Esto es África)" in Spanish,is a song by Colombian singer Shakira,featuring the South African band Freshlyground. Written,composed,and produced by Shakira and John Hill,it was released on 7 May 2010 by Epic Records as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,which was held in South Africa. The song heavily borrows from the original Cameroonian song "Zamina mina (Zangaléwa)" by Golden Sounds and the lyrics encourage one to aim for their goals like a soldier on a battlefield.
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Yasha Malekzad is an English music video director and producer from Beccles,Suffolk,England,who has worked with international artists including Enrique Iglesias,Will Smith,Pitbull,Usher,Lil Wayne,Sharon Stone,Nicky Jam,the Wanted,Christina Milian,JLS,Tinchy Stryder,Romeo Santos,Lionel Richie,Era Istrefi,Paulina Rubio,Daley,Wisin,Ludacris,Roselyn Sanchez,Parker Ighile,Stafford Brothers,Camilla Belle and many more. He is also currently working on a long format documentary project on Olympic wrestling titled Pahlavan. Malekzad is the creative director of Artist Preserve,his production company and product placement agency,located in Chelsea,London.
Era Istrefi is a Kosovo-Albanian singer. Born and raised in Pristina,Istrefi rose to significant international recognition with the breakthrough single "BonBon",which experienced commercial success worldwide and received various certifications. She later signed contracts with record labels Sony Music and Ultra Music. In 2018,Istrefi performed the official song for the 2018 FIFA World Cup,alongside Nicky Jam and Will Smith,at the closing ceremony of the grand final in Moscow. Her discography includes works in Albanian and English,among others "ShumëPis","Redrum","Nuk E Di" and "Live It Up". Istrefi has received a number of awards and nominations,including the European Border Breakers Award and Top Music Award.
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"Hasta el Amanecer" is a song by American singer Nicky Jam. The song won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Song at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. It also won the Urban Song of the Year and was nominated for Single of the Year at the 29th Lo Nuestro Awards.
"Perro Fiel" is a song by Colombian singer Shakira,featuring American singer Nicky Jam. It was written by Shakira,Nicky Jam,Saga WhiteBlack and Juan Medina,and produced by the former three. The song was released on 29 September 2017 as the sixth single from Shakira's eleventh studio album,El Dorado (2017).
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