BFA Photos via HS-PR
After a sunset stroll through a forest of mangroves, I entered BACARDÍ Bay, a promised land, if you will, of Caribbean sights, sounds and spirits. In a remote location on Miami’s Virginia Key, BACARDÍ and Major Lazer — comprised of DJs/producers Diplo, Jillionaire, and Walshy Fire — kicked off summer with their “Spirit Up!” event, a celebration commencing their #SoundOfRum partnership and debuting the group’s specially-crafted BACARDÍ rum.
Sam Shimizu-Jones via HS-PR
The group teamed up with BACARDÍ Maestro de Ron to create the limited edition BACARDÍ Major Lazer Rum for the year-long Sound of Rum campaign. Refreshing and bright, the cedar-and-vanilla-infused concoction combines light and dark rums that have been tropically-aged for three to four years — it's the perfect fuel for body-rolling all night long. In this latest initiative, the music trio and rum brand celebrate their shared Caribbean heritage (sans Diplo, but he’s been down) with a string of multimedia experiences including song and video collabs, a summer music series — from concerts with the three individually to anticipated festival appearances at Bonnaroo and Osheaga — and of course, free-flowing BACARDÍ Major Lazer Rum.
MAJOR LAZER X @BACARDI
OUR NEW COLLAB #SOUNDOFRUMhttps://t.co/QeRiOujOUY pic.twitter.com/SvKrypnfHM — MAJOR LAZER (@MAJORLAZER) May 24, 2017
We were able to catch up with Major Lazer at the “Spirit Up!” event regarding their favorite foods and newly-formulated BACARDÍ rum...
What’s your favorite Caribbean dish of all time?
Walshy Fire: Conch salad.
Jillionaire: Bake & Shark that you can get that at Pearl’s Caribbean in Brooklyn.
Diplo: Pizza — Jerk Chicken Pizza.
What do you like to drink with the BACARDÍ Major Lazer rum?
WF: Coconut water.
J: Coconut water. Or with soda water, splash of lime and a splash of dash bitters.
D: I like it with soda water. I actually like the rum straight too, to be honest.
How does it feel to have your name on a BACARDÍ Rum bottle?
WF: Wow!
J: It’s crazy.
D: Feel like a long-time coming because we’ve been making the music and vibes.
J: We drank a lot of rum coming up — we drank a lot of rum on that tour bus.
D: We drank at least a swimming pool full of rum, easily.
J: Easily.
D: Yeah, Chris [Jillionaire] was the one who formulated it.
What’s the weirdest food in your rider (food requests for green room)?
WF: We used to do weird shit but we don’t do that no more. We keep it mad healthy: Fruits and vegetables, no cheese.
D: At one point we had so much cheese in the rider that we’d only have cheese left and we’d eat it because we was too broke to get food.
WF: And we’d get nightmares. On-stage.
D: Cheese nightmares.
WF: Onstage nightmares.
D: So, we were like, “Cheese gotta go.”
Would you ever let Steve Aoki throw a cake on you? If so, what cake would you want?
D: Nah, I’d try to keep it clean. Our clothes are too expensive.
J: Steve’s my dude. I’d be like, “Throw the cake!” But I’m not getting smacked by that cake. Shoutout to Steve!
Sam Shimizu-Jones via HS-PR
To feel the inspiration of the Caribbean, mix the rum with coconut water as suggested by Jillionaire and Walshy Fire (my new favorite since it’s quenching and hydrating at the same time)!
Be ready to slow wind into summer with a BACARDÍ Major Lazer cocktail in hand after it hits the shelves on June 15!
