# We Are One (Ole Ola)
**We Are One (Ole Ola)** is a song by the American rapper Pitbull featuring [Jennifer Lopez](https://www.edgepedia.org/jennifer-lopez) and the Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte, chosen by FIFA and Sony Music Entertainment as the official song of the 2014 [FIFA World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-world-cup) in Brazil.[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) It was released worldwide as a single on April 8, 2014, performed by the three artists at the tournament's opening ceremony on June 12 at the [Arena de São Paulo](https://www.edgepedia.org/arena-de-sao-paulo), and led the official album *One Love, One Rhythm: The 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album*.[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Official song of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, selected by FIFA and Sony Music Entertainment[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) |
| Performers | Pitbull (Armando C. Perez) with Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) |
| Single release | April 8, 2014, available worldwide; instant download with album pre-order[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) |
| Album | Lead track on *One Love, One Rhythm: The 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album*, released May 12, 2014 on RCA Records[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) |
| Languages | Sung in English, Spanish, and Portuguese[2](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3.laprensa.com.ni-bq/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/22162233/LP20140409.pdf) |
| Opening ceremony | Performed live by the three singers on June 12, 2014 at the Arena de São Paulo[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) |
| Remix | The Olodum Mix, a deluxe-edition bonus track, reached number one on Spain's LOS40 chart on June 21, 2014[3](https://los40.com/2024/07/03/asi-sonaban-los-numeros-1-de-los40-hace-diez-veranos/) |
## Origin and selection
The song was Pitbull's idea. In a 2014 interview with *TIME*, Jennifer Lopez said the track was "really Pitbull's song... his brainchild": he had a track, planned to submit it to the World Cup song selection, and asked her to join him. She recorded a verse without knowing it would be chosen, and months later he called to say it had become the official World Cup song. Claudia Leitte was then brought in as well.[4](https://time.com/2871065/world-cup-anthem-jennifer-lopez-talks-official-song-we-are-one/)
FIFA and [Sony Music](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-music) announced the selection in early 2014. At an official announcement in Rio de Janeiro in January, FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke highlighted the inclusion of a Brazilian artist, saying it gave him "great pleasure to see a Brazilian artist at the heart of the song."[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html) Leitte, an axé singer and a judge on *The Voice Brasil*, said she was proud to represent her country and share its culture through music.[6](https://www.sonymusic.com.tw/news/2014%E4%B8%96%E8%B6%B3%E8%B3%BD%E4%B8%BB%E9%A1%8C%E6%9B%B2%E3%80%88we-are-one%E3%80%89%E6%9C%89%E8%AB%8B%E5%98%BB%E5%93%88%E9%AC%A5%E7%89%9B%E6%A2%97%E3%80%81%E7%8F%8D%E5%A6%AE%E4%BD%9B%E6%B4%9B/)
## Composition and credits
The song is a rap-pop anthem built on classic World Cup themes of unity, strength, and perseverance, sung mostly in English and Spanish over production with Latin touches.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-brazilians-cold-on-pitbull-j-lo-world-cup-theme-20140517-story.html) Its opening stanza sets the unifying message: "Put your flags up in the sky / And then wave 'em side to side / Show the world where you're from / Show the world we are one."[8](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/02/world-cup-song-pitbull-jennifer-lopez-we-are-one-ole-ola)
According to the track's published credits, the writers include Armando C. Perez (Pitbull), Jennifer Lopez, Claudia Leitte, Sia Furler, Thomas Troelsen, Lukasz Gottwald ([Dr. Luke](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-luke)), Henry Walter (Cirkut), Nadir Khayat, and Daniel Murcia; Dr. Luke and Cirkut produced, and Troelsen also contributed whistles. Serban Ghenea mixed the recording.[9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4HMswZ43Ds) Pitbull wrote and co-produced the song.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html)
Despite the Brazilian host context, Leitte sings in Portuguese for only a few seconds, at the end of the song.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html)
## Release and performances
The single went on sale worldwide on April 8, 2014, the same day pre-orders opened for the official album, with the song delivered instantly to pre-ordering fans.[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) The album, *One Love, One Rhythm: The 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album*, reached retailers on May 12, 2014, released in the United States on [RCA Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/rca-records), and also included the official anthem "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)" by Santana, Wyclef, Avicii, and Alexandre Pires, the mascot song "Tatu Bom de Bola" by Arlindo Cruz, and tracks by Shakira and [Ricky Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ricky-martin).[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) • [2](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3.laprensa.com.ni-bq/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/22162233/LP20140409.pdf)
Pitbull, Lopez, and Leitte performed the song live at the FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony on June 12, 2014, at the Arena de São Paulo.[1](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/) Lopez's participation had been in doubt days earlier over unspecified "production issues," but she appeared as planned.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html) The music video was filmed on location in Miami, and a 4K-resolution version of the video was planned.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-brazilians-cold-on-pitbull-j-lo-world-cup-theme-20140517-story.html) • [6](https://www.sonymusic.com.tw/news/2014%E4%B8%96%E8%B6%B3%E8%B3%BD%E4%B8%BB%E9%A1%8C%E6%9B%B2%E3%80%88we-are-one%E3%80%89%E6%9C%89%E8%AB%8B%E5%98%BB%E5%93%88%E9%AC%A5%E7%89%9B%E6%A2%97%E3%80%81%E7%8F%8D%E5%A6%AE%E4%BD%9B%E6%B4%9B/)
A separate "Video Game Version" of the song appeared on the 34-track soundtrack of the [EA Sports](https://www.edgepedia.org/ea-sports) game *[2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil](https://www.edgepedia.org/2014-fifa-world-cup-brazil-video-game)*, alongside artists from Australia, Canada, Israel, Mexico, the United States, and Brazil.[10](https://www.easports.com/2014-fifa-world-cup/news/2014/ea-sports-2014-fifa-world-cup-soundtrack)
## Reception
The song's reception in Brazil was cool. The *Los Angeles Times* reported that many [Brazilians](https://www.edgepedia.org/brazilians) were disappointed, finding the track too generic for the country's bossa nova tradition and objecting that foreign musicians sang primarily in English and Spanish.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html) The limited Portuguese content, Leitte's few seconds at the end, was a particular point of criticism.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html)
Commercially, the Olodum Mix, the deluxe-edition remix of the song, reached number one on the LOS40 airplay chart in Spain on June 21, 2014, a week after Shakira's "Dare (La La La)" had held the top spot.[3](https://los40.com/2024/07/03/asi-sonaban-los-numeros-1-de-los40-hace-diez-veranos/)
## Commentary and legacy
The song drew satirical as well as popular commentary. A *Guardian* piece by the journalist Stuart Jeffries, framed as a "Marxist dialectical analysis," argued that the anthem's celebration of unity sat oddly with a tournament in which nations express their identities divisively, quoting the opening stanza as an example of the contradiction.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/02/world-cup-song-pitbull-jennifer-lopez-we-are-one-ole-ola) [Academic writing](https://www.edgepedia.org/academic-writing) on the tournament has noted that the song's repeated "We are one" message, and its performance by Latin American artists, conveyed the idea of the 2014 World Cup as a festivity meant to unite nations, especially those of Latin America.[11](https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/tesis/2019/hdl_10803_667274/ddsm1de1.pdf)
## References
1. [FIFA and Sony Music Entertainment to Release One Love, One Rhythm: The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Album, Sony Music (April 8, 2014)](https://www.sonymusic.com/sonymusic-labels/fifa-and-sony-music-entertainment-to-release-one-love-one-rhythm-the-official-2014-fifa-world-cupalbum/)
2. [La Prensa (Nicaragua), April 9, 2014 edition](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3.laprensa.com.ni-bq/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/22162233/LP20140409.pdf)
3. [Así sonaban los números 1 de LOS40 hace diez veranos, LOS40 (2024)](https://los40.com/2024/07/03/asi-sonaban-los-numeros-1-de-los40-hace-diez-veranos/)
4. [World Cup Anthem: Jennifer Lopez Talks Official Song "We Are One", TIME (June 13, 2014)](https://time.com/2871065/world-cup-anthem-jennifer-lopez-talks-official-song-we-are-one/)
5. [World Cup song 2014: Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull present 'We Are One (Ole Ola)', The Independent (June 11, 2014)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/world-cup-2014-official-song-jennifer-lopez-and-pitbull-present-we-are-one-ole-ola-9529307.html)
6. [2014世足賽主題曲〈We Are One〉三大拉丁巨星攜手熱唱, Sony Music Taiwan (2014)](https://www.sonymusic.com.tw/news/2014%E4%B8%96%E8%B6%B3%E8%B3%BD%E4%B8%BB%E9%A1%8C%E6%9B%B2%E3%80%88we-are-one%E3%80%89%E6%9C%89%E8%AB%8B%E5%98%BB%E5%93%88%E9%AC%A5%E7%89%9B%E6%A2%97%E3%80%81%E7%8F%8D%E5%A6%AE%E4%BD%9B%E6%B4%9B/)
7. [Brazilians cold on Pitbull's World Cup theme, 'We Are One', Los Angeles Times (May 17, 2014)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-brazilians-cold-on-pitbull-j-lo-world-cup-theme-20140517-story.html)
8. [A critical theoretic Marxist dialectical analysis of the World Cup song, The Guardian (June 2, 2014)](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/02/world-cup-song-pitbull-jennifer-lopez-we-are-one-ole-ola)
9. [We Are One (Ole Ola) [The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Song], official YouTube track credits, Sony Music Entertainment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4HMswZ43Ds)
10. [EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Soundtrack Reveal, EA Sports (April 2014)](https://www.easports.com/2014-fifa-world-cup/news/2014/ea-sports-2014-fifa-world-cup-soundtrack)
11. [Doctoral thesis on music and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona repository](https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/tesis/2019/hdl_10803_667274/ddsm1de1.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Pop songs › Pop songs of the 2010s › Pop songs of the early 2010s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license