Shakira and Burna Boy‘s global smash “Dai Dai” was always designed to meet a massive moment. The song first premiered at the World Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City on June 11, then continued to build throughout the tournament before reaching another peak with the Colombian superstar and Burna Boy’s performance during the first-ever World Cup final halftime show on July 19 — and, even after the tournament’s close, it has kept surging across Billboard’s charts.

That momentum has now translated into No. 1 placements on 10 charts worldwide for “Dai Dai,” including on the Billboard Global 200, Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and Latin Airplay charts. Its rise was the product not only of the scale of the World Cup stage, but of a carefully paced global strategy led behind the scenes by independent marketing specialist Ray Rock, who works across multiple artist management teams from Philadelphia and Los Angeles and whose active roster includes Shakira, Ariana Grande, Coldplay and Madonna. And that success has earned Ray Rock the title of Billboard‘s Executive of the Week.

In the eight weeks leading up to “Dai Dai,” Rock and the team reengaged different segments of Shakira’s global audience with releases in three languages — the Spanish-language “Algo Tú” with Beéle, a dance-pop remix of Zara Larsson’s “Eurosummer” and the Portuguese-language Anitta collab “Choka Choka” — “ultimately reinforcing Shakira’s status as one of the most global figures to ever exist in pop,” he says.

Here, Rock discusses when he first realized the song had true anthem potential, how the team avoided peaking too early during the tournament and why building bespoke campaigns around an artist’s particular strengths matters more than ever in a crowded-release music industry.

“Dai Dai” has now collected 10 Billboard No. 1s worldwide. Early on, what did you and the team see in the song that made you believe it had the potential to break through at this level?

The first time Shakira shared her demo of the song was at a 2026 kickoff meeting just days after New Year’s at her studio in Miami. The final song structure was still being finalized, but [Shakira’s manager] Nadine Eliya and I were immediately inspired by the globally-influenced pop sound Shakira had developed, alongside producer A.C.; and the lyrics, specifically the football chant-inspired hook that she had written. In its earliest stages, the song already felt World Cup ready. We knew instantly that Shakira had aced the assignment of an anthem.

The song premiered at the World Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City and then kept building through the tournament, culminating in the final halftime show. What was the core strategy behind sustaining momentum over the course of the World Cup rather than peaking all at once?

Even before any details of the Final Halftime show had fallen into place, July 19 was always our impact date. From the song’s first teaser on May 2 — filmed at Maracanã Stadium in Brazil, where Shakira last performed for FIFA in 2014 — we knew we’d have to maintain a healthy cadence of activity throughout the tournament. 

In the eight weeks leading into “Dai Dai,” we reignited segments of her global audience with releases in three languages: the folkloric/EDM-influenced Spanish-language Beéle collaboration “Algo Tú,” a dance pop remix of Zara Larsson’s “Eurosummer” and the long-awaited collaboration with Anitta in Portuguese on “Choka Choka” — ultimately reinforcing Shakira’s status as one of the most global figures to ever exist in pop.

We plotted our tentpole “Dai Dai” release dates around key FIFA and Global Citizen activations — both amazing partners for the track — and Shakira’s latest U.S. tour leg, routed around tournament matches. Every week we had at least one major pulse for the track, whether it was a global press announcement, campaign or social assets from Shaki, a new remix on DSPs, or a high-profile performance. We kept “Dai Dai” strategically at the forefront of all things World Cup this summer. 

How do you keep the rollout feeling fresh while still staying true to who she is as an artist?

One of my many favorite things about getting to develop campaigns for Shakira is that there are so many fully realized facets to her artistry. She has honed her craft meticulously and developed a singular approach to all aspects of pop stardom: her multilingual lyricism, stage performance, choreography, vocal technique, and visual iconography, to name a few, are fully her own. 

Because her brand is so well-defined, it’s less challenging to adapt to current media trends and platforms in a way that feels authentic. Soccer is a part of that brand, and the organic demand for a Shakira anthem was immense. We put a lot of effort into our first teaser, where we purposefully introduced both her multilingual chant and video choreography, both quintessential Shaki. By giving fans the opportunity to begin learning and create familiarity, we had already crafted a built-in audience for the track before the first match and the first “Dai Dai” performance. 

What made Burna Boy the right collaborator for this record, both creatively and from a market-positioning standpoint?

Shakira always leads creatively with what is best for the song. She has been a fan of Burna Boy for quite some time, and was very clear from the first demo that she envisioned his voice on the record. From a positioning standpoint, I think one of Shakira’s superpowers has always been the infusion of global instrumentation and sounds into popular music. 

Was there a moment during this campaign when you realized, “Okay, this is becoming something much bigger than we expected”?

Truly just this week. I think we all had a steadfast belief in the song and Shakira’s ability to deliver performances that would cut through and excite her global audience. The internet practically begs for her World Cup return every four years.

To see the song soar to the heights it has, and sustain, a few days after the tournament has been a pleasant surprise. It’s certainly the kind of post-performance discovery and embrace we were hoping for, but since 2026 is the first ever World Cup Final halftime, we didn’t have any benchmarks or frame of reference for how this may perform post-Cup.

What do you think allowed “Dai Dai” to connect beyond the tournament itself and continue resonating after the final match?

In a way, I think [last] Sunday’s halftime performance served as the ultimate payoff to Shakira’s multi-year triumphant return to the global stage. After making headlines in 2022 for her personal life, her core audience across the Americas has followed her through this triumph every step of the way — from the massive successes of Hot 100 top 10s like “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and “TQG,” to her blockbuster Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran album, and record-breaking stadium tour in North and South America. Her fourth return to the World Cup stage brought this victory lap to the homes of billions, and getting to see, quite literally, the world rally around and celebrate her this week has been beyond gratifying. 

You’ve worked with some of the biggest stars in the world. What, if anything, did this campaign teach you that you’ll carry into future releases?

This year I’ve had the privilege of developing release strategies for three of the most dynamic artists of our lifetime, and some of the most impactful campaigns of this year: Shakira’s “Dai Dai,” Madonna’s Confessions II and Ariana Grande’s forthcoming petal. 

For me, working these three campaigns simultaneously has really highlighted the crucial importance of a bespoke, hand-crafted approach for each artist. We’ve never been flooded with more content to cut through, and the best practices artists and their teams are often presented have become increasingly homogenized. 

All three of these women are master classes in authenticity. Stay clear on your goals and deeply understand your artist’s vision and superpowers. Prioritize leaning into your strengths and super-serving your audience over trying to chase metrics that may ultimately be irrelevant to the story you are telling.