Despite being a sport competition, music holds a lot of importance in football, especially within the World Cup. Whether booing or celebrating, football fans will convey their emotions through chants and songs. And so, since 1962 the World Cup organisers have made it a tradition to have official anthems for each tournament. Most of these songs are praised not only for their catchy beats but for their ability to unite fans across the world in their favourite sport. However, this year, one song on the 2022 soundtrack has received a great number of mixed reviews.
On November 18th, FIFA released the official fan anthem, “Tukoh Taka,” starring Lebanese singer, Myriam Fares, alongside Nicki Minaj and Columbian singer Maluma. The music video caused an uproar due to Myriam Fares sensual dance moves and revealing clothing. Many accused Fares of attempting to mimic the style and attire of Columbian singer, Shakira, instead of representing her own heritage. Fans claimed that an Arab singer who received the honour of singing on the official FIFA world cup soundtrack should have used the opportunity to display her own culture, commentators on an international Arabic news television channel, Al Arabiya, stated that Fares “doesn’t reflect Arab identity.”
People do not only have a problem with the “immodesty” of the music video but the lyrics of the song itself. The song is composed with Spanish, Arabic and English lyrics and the comments were flooded with fans complaining that “the lyrics are meaningless in every language”, failing to communicate the deep sense of unity that lies within the World Cup. One of the top comments under the “Tukoh Taka” YouTube video says, “this has nothing to do with the world cup,” along with thousands of identical comments protesting that the lyrics are nonsensical.
However, “Tukoh Taka” is not hated by everybody, some people appreciate the lyrics. Many fans even recognised that the phrase “Tukoh Taka” is possibly a reference to the phrase “Tiki Taka” the name of a football strategy popularised by Spanish broadcaster, Andres Montes. The lyrics are not the only thing people like,many are also fans of the fast heart-thumping beat; some comments under social media posts regarding the song even state that “the song is so bad yet catchy.”
Despite not being the official World Cup song, “Tukoh Taka” gained the attention of millions. Myriam Fares made a song that will be remembered due to both its critics and supporters, which is definitely a unique achievement.
