Bacardi covers Conga song in new campaign

Rum brand Bacardi has partnered with musicians Meek Mill and Leslie Grace to record a remake of 1985 song Conga as part of a new campaign.

Dancer Lil Buck will recruit performers for the Conga music video

The song, originally performed by Miami Sound Machine’s Emilio and Gloria Estefan, has been reimagined to form the centrepiece of Bacardi’s new Conga Feat You campaign.

The new version of the song features musicians Meek Mill and Leslie Grace, and will be produced by Matthew Jehu Samuels, known professionally as Boi-1da. In the run up to the release of the new track, Bacardi is inviting vocalists and dancers to submit their voice recordings or videos showcasing their talents for a chance to be featured in the official Conga music video.

Ned Duggan, global senior vice president of Bacardi, said: “Bacardi is a brand that thrives off bringing people together, and given the current state of the world, we wanted to create an opportunity to connect them by joining Bacardi in resurrecting this global hit, blessed by Emilio and Gloria Estefan themselves.

“It’s an honour to work with passionate multicultural artists like Leslie Grace, Meek Mill and Boi-1da to unite people through music with an iconic song from the Estefans’ like Conga, while also creating moments and experiences for people to share their true, authentic selves on a global stage.”

Performers will be able to submit entries to be included in the official video until 13 December 2020. Videos can be submitted on the Bacardi Instagram account, @bacardiusa.

Bacardi has also tapped model Jasmine Sanders, street dancer Charles ‘Lil Buck’ Riley, and singer and TV judge Alesha Dixon to recruit performers to submit their own videos.

After the submission period has closed, producer Boi-1da and Bacardi will select users to appear in the official Conga track and music video, which will premiere in January 2021.