Mas Que Nada

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"Mas que nada"
Single by Sergio Mendes & The Black Eyed Peas
from the album Timeless
Released	May 29, 2006 iTunes June 2006
Format	CD single
Recorded	2005/2006
Genre	Música Popular Brasileira
Length	3:32 (single edit) 4:22 (album version)
Label	Universal
Writer(s)	Jorge Ben Jor
Producer(s)	will.i.am
Chart positions
see charts
Sergio Mendes singles chronology
	"Mas que nada" (2006)
Black Eyed Peas singles chronology
"Pump It" (2006)	"Mas que nada" (2006)

"Mas que nada" (No way or Come on) is a song originally written and performed by Jorge Ben Jor in 1963, which later became the signature song of Brazilian musician and performer Sergio Mendes. In the United States, it is one of the few Brazilian songs that are widely recognized (the most famous being, of course, A Garota de Ipanema). It is worth noting that in the United States, the song is popularly credited to Sergio Mendes with Jorge Ben Jor relatively unknown, whereas in Brazil, the reverse is true.

Sergio Mendes re-recorded the song Mas que nada with The Black Eyed Peas in 2006; he had originally covered it on his 1966 Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 album. The 2006 version is featured on his new album Timeless. The song has featured on many football/soccer commercials due to the success of the Brazilian soccer team. Nike used the song in two different advertising campaigns during the 1998 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.

Nike had used a 1963 version by Tamba Trio in a previous advertising campaign for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, prompting that version of the song to crack the UK Top 40, reaching Number 34 in the summer of 1998.

The track has been nominated for "Record of the Year" in the Billboard Latin Grammy Awards of 2006.

Contents 1 Pronunciation 2 Song information 3 Formats and track listings 4 Covers 5 Charts

[edit] Pronunciation

The word "Mas" in the title of this song is sometimes mistaken for the word "Mais", because of its pronunciation. This is a typical pronunciation of Rio de Janeiro, where both "mais" and "mas" are equally pronounced (an /i/ is added in the word "mas", then it might sound like "mais" [/maiss/]). But those words mean different things: "mas" is but and "mais" is more. Therefore "Mas que nada" does not mean "more than anything". A word-for-word translation would be "but what nothing", which is not understandable in English. Non-Portuguese speaking people sometimes confuse "Mas" ("But" in Portuguese), with "Mas" ("more" in Spanish), hence, erroneously translating it as "more than nothing", when in reality it means something else entirely. The Portuguese word for "more" is "mais".

[edit] Song information

The song is still played regularly in concerts by both Sergio Mendes and by Jorge Ben Jor.

The well-known introduction of "Mas que Nada'", performed by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, can also heard in the motion pictures Joe Versus The Volcano (1990) starring Tom Hanks and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), and the entire song appeared on the accompanying soundtrack album. Croatian cellist Walter Despalj did an arrangement of Jorge Ben Jor's original for a group of cellos.

The lyrics loosely translate as:

Mas que nada	Oh come on
Sai da minha frente	Get out of my way
Eu quero passar	I want to get through
Pois o samba está animado	'Cause this samba's so exciting
O que eu quero é sambar	What I want is to dance!
Este samba	This samba
Que é misto de maracatu	That is a mix of maracatu
É samba de preto velho	It's the samba of preto velho
Samba de preto tu	Samba of black you
Mas que nada	Oh come on
Um samba como esse tão legal	A samba like this one is so cool
Você não vai querer que eu chegue no final	You won't want me to stop

[edit] Formats and track listings

• CD single

1. "Mas que nada" (feat. Black Eyed Peas) 3:32
2. "Mas que nada" 2:41

• iTunes single (May 29)

1. "Mas que nada" [Radio Edit] 3:33
2. "Mas que nada" [Masters at Work Remix] 8:03
3. "Mas que nada" 2:39

[edit] Covers

Also, bossa singer Sitti from the Philippines did a remake of this song and is included in her album, Café Bossa. She sings the original lyrics of the song, unlike the Black Eyed Peas remake where it was mixed with English and hip-hop lyrics. Al Jarreau also did a cover version on his 1994 album Tenderness. French jazz guitarist Marc Antoine performed an instrumental version on his 2001 album Cruisin'. Echobeatz released a housy/dance version in 1998. L.A. Transit performed a version on the Denon Jazz Sampler Vol. 1 in 1985.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak
Austrian Top 75	8 (3)
Dutch Top 40	1 (2)
French Top 100	40
German Top 100	9
Swiss Top 100	4 (2)
UK Singles Chart	6
Brazilian Top 40 Dance Traxx	11
Brazilian Hot 100	33
Hungary Top 40 (IFPI Mahasz Radio Chart)	1 (2)
Czech IFPI Chart	6