Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 - Mas Que Nada, Promo video, 1966

Posted by “Mas que nada“ is Portuguese for “No way“ or “Come on.“ This was originally written and performed by Jorge Ben in 1963. Three years later Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes gave it a catchy, tight bossa nova arrangement with soaring vocals by Lani Hall. It became his signature song, although in Brazil Jorge Ben’s version is the most well known one. This was featured in the 1990 Tom Hanks movie Joe Versus The Volcano and the 1997 movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. The Brazilian group Tamba Trio had a #34 hit in the UK in 1998 with their version, which was surprisingly the first time the song entered the UK charts. In 2006 Sergio Mendes re-recorded the song with The Black Eyed Peas with his wife Gracinha Leporace providing additional vocals. This time it reached #6 in the UK and it topped the charts in Holland and Hungary.