O.A.R., B.o.B., and Diji Parq
O.A.R. and B.o.B. premiere Tuesday their collaborative song and video "Champions," a rock-meets-hip-hop teaming for Duracell's "Rely On Copper To Go For The Gold" program that supports the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The "Rely On Copper" initiative gives Olympic fans a way to celebrate athletes competing oversees. Users can use Duracell's Virtual Stadium on Facebook and Twitter to send encouragement via videos, pictures and texts messages.
DOWNLOAD free copy of "Champions" on Duracell's Facebook page
B.o.B.B.o.B., who released his sophomore album, "Strange Clouds," last week said everyone can relate to the song's message. "I think the song is very synonymous with challenges that many people face in life even beyond the field, beyond the court and beyond the sports," he said. "It's the same place you have to dig from and challenge from when you're an athlete or at an Olympian level. This is the best the world has to offer."
O.A.R. lead singer Marc Roberge said the band had been working on the song "Champions" with Diji Parq for about a year but had not completed it. When they received the call from Duracell to make an anthemic song for the Olympics they immediately revisited this record.
"It just seemed so perfect for the message, the brand and the Olympics," he said. Roberge added that he requested that B.o.B. guest on the song. "This is an artist that is not just a rapper, not just a musician, not just a singer or songwriter, he's done it all," Roberge said about the Atlanta rapper.
O.A.R.Roberge also wanted to make sure the song had the right musical feel. "This record, sonically, was intended to sound regal, like something that kinda encompasses the Olympics," he said. "When you look out along the field, you imagine trumpeters and drums pounding like the opening of the Olympics and that's what we went for."
Dwight HowardEric Gruen, Duracell's assistant brand manager, explained why the company felt B.o.B. and O.A.R. were the right artists for the campaign. "We felt bringing these two genres, these two artists together would be able to bring this 'Champions' message to really resonate with all of our consumers and athletes. This song will help drive the overall message of motivation and bring home the gold," he said.
In addition to O.A.R. and B.o.B., the "Rely On Copper To Go For The Gold" program also aligns 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Dwight Howard, former gold medalist Summer Sanders, and team USA hopefuls, siblings Mark and Dina Lopez.