Global music sensation Shakira is no stranger to creating legendary football anthems. As anticipation builds for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the “Waka Waka” hitmaker has opened up about her latest sporting track, “Dai Dai,” and her decision to collaborate with Nigerian Afrobeats powerhouse Burna Boy.
Matching the ‘Male Energy’ of the World Cup
Speaking during an appearance on the Capital Evening Show with Jimmy Hill, Shakira explained that she envisioned a very specific sound for “Dai Dai.” The track blends Afrobeat rhythms with Caribbean vibes and a touch of R&B. To ground the song, Shakira felt it absolutely required a powerful, masculine vocal performance to match the atmosphere of the global tournament.
“Once I had the song, I felt that I really needed a male vocal, a male voice in the song,” Shakira shared. “The World Cup carries a big male energy, you know? And so I was like, who can give me that very masculine voice that I want in this sort of Afrobeat setting?”
For Shakira, there was only one artist who fit the bill: Burna Boy. She admitted she has been a long-time admirer of his music and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to collaborate with the Grammy-winning Nigerian star.
The 20-Day Wait for ‘Magic’
Securing a feature from one of Africa’s biggest artists, however, required a little bit of patience. Shakira revealed that after sending the song to Burna Boy, she had to wait nearly three weeks to hear back, leading to some brief anxiety about whether the collaboration would actually happen.
“It took a while. I was waiting for 20 days for him to send something. And I’m like, ‘Okay, maybe he’s not going to do it,'” she recalled. “But then he sent his magic and it was just absolutely perfect. I think his voice is just… it works so well on this song. I couldn’t imagine anybody else on it, actually.”
Shakira confessed to being “obsessed” with getting Burna Boy on the record, making the suspenseful 20-day wait entirely worthwhile. With both artists bringing their global star power to the track, “Dai Dai” is already shaping up to be another massive anthem in World Cup history.