Mas que Nada

"Mas, que Nada!" is a song written and originally performed by Jorge Ben on his debut album, which in a later cover version became the signature song of Sérgio Mendes. The song was voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone as the 5th greatest Brazilian song. The song was inducted to the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame.

The meaning of the title

In Brazilian Portuguese slang, mas, que nada (literally, "but, that [is] nothing") means "no way", "whatever", or "yeah, right!". In many recordings, the title song is incorrectly written "Mais que nada", Portuguese for "more than nothing". Correspondingly the title should not be confused with the Spanish más que nada meaning "more than anything", or "above all" (in the sense of "mainly" or "principally").

Early version

In 1958, Brazilian artist José Prates recorded a track called "Nanã Imborô" that appears on his album "Tam... Tam... Tam...!" (1958, Polydor Brasil - LPNG 4.016), which features the same melody later heard in Jorge Ben's "Mas, que Nada!", especially the Sergio Mendes version.