The Loeries, in collaboration with Songstruct and some of Africa’s top musicians, have created the first-ever official Loeries song, as part of the 2015 campaign “How many NOs does it take to win a Loerie?”

The track, entitled “NO!” is a collaboration between award-winning South African rapper AKA, Nigerian superstar Burna Boy, and popular South African producers DJ Clock, and Timo ODV, and echoes the “How many NOs” campaign created by King James II to illustrate a creative’s daily frustration of having work turned down, and the determination and perseverance it takes to win one of these prestigious awards.

The track’s heavy hitting collaborators jumped at the opportunity to be part of this exciting project, with Burna Boy flying in from Lagos on short notice, and AKA fresh off the plane from the BET awards, and welcoming his newborn daughter, set his fatherly duties aside to add his weight to the project.

The artists eager involvement shows that it’s not just advertising creatives who are faced with constantly having to hear the word NO. Artists across the creative world, from musicians to painters to writers and dancers all have to endure their fair share of NOs from record labels, publishers, and studios, before getting a YES.

The How many NOs campaign celebrates this as being part of the creative process. Getting work turned down encourages creatives to hone their craft and improve their skills, and ultimately leads to award-winning work.

The track was produced by Songstruct, a platform created by Universal Music to bring African artists and creative agencies together in order to create memorable campaigns with local talent.

“Creating the song “NO!” was a hugely successful adventure and we look forward to more. We’ve created Songstruct especially for creatives, and our involvement with Loeries offers us the ideal platform to reach out to this very important audience,” says Ryan Hill, Managing Director of Universal Music Publishing.

YFM, the official broadcast sponsor of the Loeries®, was given the opportunity to debut the song on South African radio, and had exclusive rights to play the track for the first week.