Baha Men is taking The Bahamas to the world . . . again.
The Grammy winning group’s hit, “Night and Day,” was selected as one of 14 songs to be featured on the official FIFA World Cup album.
Baha Men shares the honour with international artists such as Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, whose “We Are One (Ola Ola), is the official 2014 FIFA World Cup song. Grammy winners Ricky Martin, Shakira and Santana also make the cut.
The World Cup takes place in Brazil on June 12 and it is expected that the song will be exposed to the entire World Cup viewing audience, which is estimated to include more than 700 million people – making it the largest single event in the world.
Baha Men lead singer, Isaiah Taylor said his group is “flattered” that Sony selected it to be part of the album.
He was speaking at a news conference on Tuesday at the Atlantis Resort, which, along with the Nassau/Paradise Island Promotion Board, is providing support to the group.
Mr. Taylor said this will easily be the greatest exposure that Baha Men has ever received in its history and proves that the group is continuing to grow year after year.
“Sony had thousands of choices and they chose us as one of 14. There is little more than I can say,” said Mr. Taylor. “I really thank God for sending Max because Max is actually responsible for bringing Sony and Ginny, I don’t need you to admit to me, but I know . . . that us being on that compilation CD, I know you are partly responsible . . . I know you all fought for this.”
Ginny Peirats, managing director for Sony Music in Central America and the Caribbean said Baha Men impressed Sony during its convention in The Bahamas two years ago.
“It took us almost two years to do their new album. We feel extremely content and happy with the calibre of songs that we have compiled to this new Baha Men recording,” she said. “We have not decided yet, but we think the title is going to be, ‘Right with Me’ and the first single will be ‘Night and Day.’ After we worked with all of the tracks, our European office was working with putting together the World Cup FIFA 2014 compilation and I thought that ‘Night and Day’ would be a great fit to be added.”
“It’s a beautiful song and we are very happy we were able to include the track in the World Cup compilation. It was released [Monday] and it is number one in the iTunes stores all over the world.”
Obie Pindling, who is Sony’s local lawyer, acknowledged that the World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world and he said this recognition is just the beginning.
“So, for a Bahamian group to be included in the CD for such a mega event, it just doesn’t get any better and it doesn’t get any bigger and it is a major, major accomplishment,” he said. “I want the Bahamian public to know that this is just the beginning. Sony has expressed very strong interest in recruiting more talent in The Bahamas, so this is only the beginning. You don’t get any bigger than Sony.”
Meantime, Max Munro, technical director of Unique Productions, who was praised repeatedly during the news conference for helping Baha Men get on the album, said he is “proud” of what Baha Men accomplished when it performed for Sony two years ago.
“It really touched me and I just want to say the sky is the limit, guys” he said. Baha Men will officially launch its new album in The Bahamas this month. The World Cup final takes place on July 13.
Caption: L-R: Max Munroe, technical director of Unique Productions; Sony’s local attorney, Obie Pindling; Ginny Peirats, managing director for Sony Music in Central America and the Caribbean and Isaiah Taylor, Baha Men lead singer. (Photo/Wendell Cleare for The Counsellors Ltd.)
