Well, here’s a fun fact of the day for you.
You know McDonalds’ famous “I’m Loving It” jingle? That infectious scat “Ba-da-ba-ba-ba! I’m Loving It!” can stick in your head all day.
As it turns out, rapper Pusha T wrote that catchy tune for the fast food company’s campaign back in 2003.
Earlier this week, Steve Stoute (the CEO of the marketing firm Translation and former record exec for Sony and Interscope) did an interview with Hot 97’s Ebro Darden. Stoute said the campaign the first big project for his company Translation. “Our first big thing was launching ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ for McDonald’s in 2004.”
Ebro praised Timberlake and Pharrell for the song, when Stoute revealed it was actually Pusha who wrote the popular jingle. Stoute created the entire campaign and divulged that Pusha T was the composer.
Stoute said: “You know who did that? Pusha T. That’s crazy that Pusha T wrote the song to McDonald’s!” The New York Times reveals that McDonald’s paid Justin Timberlake $6 million to sing it, and Pharrell (then of The Neptunes) produced it.
If you recall, The Neptunes worked on the early 00s albums of Justin Timberlake’s solo debut Justified and rap duo The Clipse’s (members Pusha T and No Malice) album, Lord Willin’. The Clipse also featured on Timberlake’s debut solo single “Like I Love You.”
Sounds like it was kept all within the circle!
Listen to the full song and Stoute’s Hot 97 interview below (4:00 mark):
