Sprite Limelight Season Three Drops Musical Collaborations and Inspiring Content Featuring Take a Daytrip and Global Lineup of Artists

07-01-2024

Sprite Limelight is back in 2024 with fresh new music and storytelling from its biggest-yet roster of international artists.

Season Three of the brand’s groundbreaking music platform brings Young Miko (Puerto Rico), Fireboy DML (Nigeria), XAMÃ (Brazil), Lay Zhang (China), Doechii (United States), Blxckie (South Africa) and Mahalia (Great Britain) closer to their fans with relatable stories of how they keep a cool head amidst the “heat” of life’s everyday stress and tension.

Each artist used their respsective artistic visions and musical styles to creatively interpret a core hook crafted by GRAMMY-nominated DJ/producer/songwriting duo, Take A Daytrip — sampling, singing and altering the lyrics and melody to manifest a suite of original tracks. The finished products showcase Afrobeat rhythms alongside soulful R&B and raw rap artistry.

“When we started Take A Daytrip in our tiny basement studio in New York, we dreamed of traveling the world through the power of imagination and making music with artists across borders and language barriers,” says Denzel Baptiste of Take A Daytrip. “Over a decade later, we’re partnering with Sprite to help an amazing roster of international artists bring their tales of perseverance to life.”

Baptiste’s Take a Daytrip collaborator, David Biral, adds: “For this season of the Sprite Limelight series, we got to travel to different countries, explore different cultures, connect with artists to learn about their journeys, and craft a hook that inspired each artist to explore their stories and pathways towards full self-expression.”

The artists will bring their personal stories to life via tracks and music videos posted on social media handles and Sprite's global YouTube channel, as well as curated Spotify playlists that reveal the music they turn to when they need to cool down and switch off.

Fans can participate in the creative process by channeling their own personal “heat” into beats and shareable tracks on "Soundlabs," Sprite’s Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered remix tool. By scanning QR codes on limited-edition Sprite cans designed by Zimbabwean artist Sindiso Nyoni (aka R!OT), fans can select a hook and turn frustration into inspiration to make and remix shareable tracks to share with a global community of creators.

“At its core, Sprite Limelight creates connections between artists and audiences by sharing relatable stories of heat— going behind the scenes to uncover what makes them tick, as well as what ticks them off,” said Josh Burke, Global Head of Music and Culture Marketing at The Coca‑Cola Company. “By spotlighting emerging artists and how they take on the heat in their lives through music, we’re aiming to serve the ultimate cool-down to help navigate the heated moments of life for a worldwide Gen Z audience who we know are a generation feeling the heat more than any other.”

Sprite and Young Miko will release a special music video exploring the back story of the Latin American rapper’s song, “Rookie of the Year,” which was produced by Mauro and Jota Rosa. Recognizing Young Miko’s legacy of prevailing over heat, Sprite saw the fan-favorite cut from her recent album as an ideal fit for the Limelight program. Young Miko will perform the song during her upcoming tour sponsored by Sprite Limelight.

Sprite Limelight debuted in 2022 as a music-focused extension of the brand’s global platform, “Heat Happens”, which invites fans to keep cool in the face of everyday heated moments. American rapper Coi Leray, African singer-songwriter Omah Lay and Chinese pop/rock singer Hua Chenyu created tracks using a hook created by Grammy-winning producer James Blake. In 2023, four genre-spanning international artists — Feid (Colombia), Cassper Nyovest (South Africa), Lexa (Brazil) and Lay Zhang (China) — created original tracks inspired by a dancehall reggae- and baile funk-inspired chorus crafted by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic. Sprite has longstanding ties to music, especially in the United States where the brand has been synonymous with hip-hop culture for more than three decades.

“When we created the Sprite Limelight program, our aim was to do something completely different and to break the mold of the traditional music and brand partnership with a new type of program that places real artists and real stories at the center of everything,” Burke said. “For our audience, music is where they go to switch off, clear their heads, shift moods, validate feelings and, ultimately, cool down.”