WATCH: Men’s choir performs Ryan Cayabyab’s ‘Da Coconut Nut’ on plane

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Ryan Cayabyab’s “Da Coconut Nut” has gone viral. On Friday, July 21, the Arabic airline Emirates posted a video of the Baylor University Men’s Choir performing the song for passengers and crew on a flight.

According to the video, 75 members of the choir were traveling back to Waco, Texas from Kenya and performed the song as a thank you gift for the Emirates staff.

The video was posted on Friday, July 21, and has gotten more than 4 million views as of writing.

On Monday, July 24, Cayabyab posted on Facebook his reaction about the song becoming viral years after it was released.

In the post, Cayabyab said that Randy Stenson, an American conductor and arranger got in touch with him after he heard the Soprano-Alto-Tenor-Bass (SATB) arrangement of the song in Hawaii.

“Mr. Stenson was able to convince Barbara Harlow, the president of Santa Barbara Music Publishing of California (SBMPC) to contact me and have the sheet music of the arrangement published, under his choral series.

“They were able to perform this song together with the other songs in SBMPC’s catalogue in the American Choral Directors National Convention sometime after the deal got through in July of 2008, and this got the version going. Hence, its popularity with select American choirs,” Cayabyab said.

Cayabyab said that when he and the Ryan Cayabyab Singers go on tour, he normally introduces “Da Coconut Nut” as one of the most popular songs he’s written.

“I still grin when I tell the audience that I was given a special award by the Philippine Coconut Authority for writing the song. Hehehehehehe.”

“Da Coconut Nut” was popularized by the group Smokey Mountain in the ’90s and was one of the group’s most popular song. The arrangement has been performed by many choirs in the Philippines and abroad.

The Baylor University Men’s Choir is a choir founded in 1895. Baylor University is a Christian college in Texas. – Rappler.com