“Mas, que Nada!” is a song written and originally performed in 1963 by Jorge Ben on his debut album Samba Esquema Novo, which became Sergio Mendes signature song in his 1966 cover version. It was voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone as the fifth greatest Brazilian song. It was inducted to the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.
Brazilians use Mas que nada (or just que nada) colloquially to disagree with someone. A fitting English translation might be a sarcastic “Yeah, right!” or “No way!” With many recordings, the title song is incorrectly written Mais que nada, (Portuguese for “more than nothing”) which would fundamentally alter its meaning. Also it should not be confused with the Spanish más que nada, which means “more than anything”, or “above all”, and is used in the sense of “mainly” or “principally”.
In 1958, Brazilian artist José Prates recorded a track called “Nanã Imborô” that appears on his album Tam… Tam… Tam…! (1958), which features the underlying melody and vocalizations later used by Jorge Ben in “Mas, que Nada!” This motifs would by further highlighted by Sergio Mendes’ arrangement of the song in 1966.
Sergio Mendes covered the song with his band Brasil ’66 on their debut album Herb Alpert Presents Sergion Mendes & Brasil 66 (1966). In the United States, the single reached number 47 on the US Billboard, and number four on the Easy Listening chart. Outside of Brazil this 1966 version is the more well known than Jorge Ben’s original and, to many, the definitive version of the song. In 1989, Mendes re-recorded the song on his album Arara; in Brazil, the song is also well known for being the theme song for the local television channel Globo’s Estrelas.
In 2006, Mendes again re-recorded the song, this time with American musical group the Black Eyed Peas and additional vocals by Mendes’ wife, Gracinha Leporace for his album Timeless. This version contains a sample of their 2004 hit “Hey Mama”. The record performed well on many European charts. In the UK, the song entered the charts at number 29 and peaked at number six on its second week on the chart.
The song appeared as part of the EA Sports 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany and NBA Live 07 video games. This version was also included in the 2011 animated film Rio (along with another version recorded in the style of Brasil ’66) and its soundtrack, an episode of 90210, in the 2012 video game Just Dance 4, and was also featured in Over Her Dead Body during the opening of the film.
