June 12, 2020 | Courtesy of Nassau Guardian
Bahamian Grammy Award-winning group Baha Men drops “Take A Chance” – a song about love and relationships in the midst of COVID-19. BAHA MEN
Photo by Jesi Cason
Due to COVID-19, Baha Men may have postponed tour dates for the immediate future, but that in no way means that this much-loved group can’t bring the music. And that’s exactly what they did, dropping a new single “Take A Chance” as The Bahamas and the world battled to contain the spread of the coronavirus global health pandemic.
Rik Carey, Baha Men singer, said releasing the single during the global public health pandemic was the perfect time.
“The thing is – you don’t really follow fashion…but think about it; people are relying on music and entertainment, and more so than ever before. They’re looking to be entertained while they’re staring at their phone, staring online and spending so much time in front of their computers. They’re looking to social media and these online music partners to be entertained.”
Baha Men recorded “Take A Chance” with Patrick Romantik in Miami at the end of summer 2019. It is basically about love and relationships…and taking a chance.
“When we wrote the story in the studio with the writers from Sony, we just wanted to tap back into the feeling of when you risk everything, and how the guy gets the girl and the risks that he has to take to get the girl,” said Carey. “Sometimes you just have to be bold and daring and just take a chance and not worry about what people are saying; worrying about what she’s going to say; worrying about what’s going to happen – because if you really want something that bad, then that’s what you have to do.”
“When we wrote the story in the studio with the writers from Sony, we just wanted to tap back into the feeling of when you risk everything, and how the guy gets the girl, and the risks that he has to take to get the girl,” said Carey. “Sometimes you just have to be bold and daring and just take a chance and not worry about what people are saying; worrying about what she’s going to say; worrying about what’s going to happen – because if you really want something that bad, then that’s what you have to do.
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For the single, Baha Men stepped away from their “normal” music. “Take A Chance” showcases a fusion of reggaeton in a nod to their Latin fans and reggaeton communities in which they are in high rotation. But you still hear Baha Men’s signature high-energy, Junkanoo-meets-hip-hop sound. Even with the reggaeton music, “Take A Chance” still falls under the pop genre.
Sony Latin, under which Baha Men is signed, has been urging the group to do a reggaeton song for a while to appease their Latin community fans. Several years ago, Baha Men was also nominated at the Latin Grammys for “Who Let The Dogs Out”, a nomination that Carey said opened up doors for them in Latin countries.
“Take A Chance”, which dropped on April 30, has been getting great reviews from their fans, with people leaving comments like: “This is a great song. Pray that [it] explodes like [’Who Let the Dogs Out’] did,”; “Love the vibe!”; “Jamming,”; “This is [fire]. Great new sound,”; and “Whew, fire boys!”
While they dropped a new sound, Baha Men has still retained their music with words that are inspirational and positive. Carey said you will never hear Baha Men’s sound featuring profanity.
“I still love those types of music too, but [Baha Men’s] thing – how we’ve been doing it for the past decade, is good, clean music. We like to engage as many different audiences from kids to the adults, to a pastor. Our music transcends the many different age groups, so we had to keep that formula.”
Baha Men is approaching their 30th anniversary as a group, and is in the midst of the 20-year anniversary of their world hit single “Who Let the Dogs Out”, for which they won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, as well as Billboard Music Awards for World Music Artist and Album of the Year. “Who Let the Dogs Out” was also featured in major motion pictures, and was the song on everyone’s lips in sports stadiums around the globe.
Baha Men also won a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for Favorite Song in 2000, then followed it up with another Kids Choice Award for Favorite Band in 2002.
The group’s songs have also been featured in movies such as “Miss Congeniality”, “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Garfield: The Movie”, “Men In Black II”, “The Hangover” and “Shrek”.
The group released “Night and Day” in 2014, which was selected to be featured alongside Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Santana and others on the 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album.
Carey said “Night and Day” was one of the ways Sony tested the waters with them.
“It was fortunate for us, that song made the FIFA World Cup soundtrack, along with a bunch of other big names, so that was like an honor for us to be able to be a part of that. That also helped to open up our music to a wider audience.”
In 2015, the band released the “Ride With Me” album; and “Bumpa” in February 2018.
“Take A Chance” is now just one in a vast catalogue of work from the nine-member group.
Baha Men’s new song can be found on all the streaming services. They’ve also released the video, which can be found on YouTube.
“A lot of people around the world only know us for ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ – but our campaign over the past couple years is reminding our audience that Baha Men is way more than just one song. Even though that is a part of American pop culture and it opened up so many different facets for us, Baha Men has a wide catalogue of music that spans generations, and we’re just kind of reminding people that this is what we are, this is who we are, we’ve been doing this, this is nothing new,” said Carey.