7 facts about the African Giant Burna Boy

Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogul, more popularly known as Burna Boy, rose to stardom a decade ago after the release of Like to Party, the lead single from his debut album, L.I.F.E. – Leaving an Impact for Eternity. Burna Boy is now officially referred to as ‘the African Giant’, which just happens to be the title of his fourth studio album. Released on July 26, 2019, by Spaceship Entertainment, Bad Habit, Atlantic Records and Warner Music, African Giant is a mixture of Afrobeats, Afrobeat, dancehall, pop and hip hop.

Here are seven facts about the African Giant, who will be performing on Sunday at the National Stadium in Kingston:

1. Fela Kuti his hero and inspiration

Burna Boy was born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu on July 2, 1991 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to Bose and Samuel Ogulu. His maternal grandfather, Benson Idonije, a writer and music critic, is credited as being the first manager of late, legendary Nigerian musician and Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Kuti. Exposure to Fela Kuti’s music has led Burna Boy to name the legend as his hero.

“Fela is my inspiration and my childhood hero, so if you think comparing me to Fela is honourable, it’s actually not. It actually makes me feel weird. Fela was Fela, and if it wasn’t for Fela, there probably wouldn’t be any me, so I don’t understand the comparison.” ( GQ Magazine , 2020 interview).

2. Mama Burna , Burna Boy’s ‘momager’

Bose Ogulu, a well-known academic, who was trained as a linguist and speaks French, Italian, German, English, and Yoruba, is Burna Boy’s mother and manager. She is the co-founder of Spaceship Collective – a record and publishing company, which is a foundation for other African artistes to maintain greater control and ownership of their repertoire. Burna Boy’s sister, Nissi, is one of the artistes signed to the record label.

3. Meteoric rise Burna Boy’s rise to stardom is described as “meteoric”. So far, he has released six studio albums – LIFE, Redemption, Outside, African Giant, Grammy-winning album Twice as Tall and Love, Damini – two mixtapes, two extended plays, and 39 singles. In less than a year, he released 10 music videos, performed in 200 cities around the globe, and had his songs streamed 600 million times.

However, Burna Boy is dismissive of numbers: “I don’t really have a high regard for numbers, because numbers have no feelings, they have no soul, whereas I do. My ‘numbers’ is the people who have actually felt the feeling that the music is supposed to carry across and in the process received the message.” ( GQ Magazine, 2020 interview)

4. Last Last A global theme song, Last Last, has amassed 132 million views on YouTube since its release on May 13 through Atlantic Records. It is the first single from his sixth studio album, Love, Damini. Burna Boy performed the song at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards two days after its release.

5. One Night in Space Burna Boy is the first Nigerian artiste to headline a concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Titled One Night in Space, the sold-out concert was staged on on April 28, 2022. It had a million viewers on YouTube.

6. Pan-Africanism

Both Burna Boy and his mother are advocates of pan-Africanism and in several interviews, Burna Boy has talked about the need for African unity and the “reconnection of the black race”.

“The reason for everything I do and how I do it is for one goal and one goal only, and that’s the eventual unity of Africa. One day we’ll have one passport, one African currency, one Africa. Then and only then will my mission be complete.” (Source: GQ Magazine)

7. Burna Boy and Stefflon Don

Burna Boy and Stefflon Don had dated publicly for two and a half years from some time in 2019 to late 2021 or later, often referring to the other as their spouse in interviews. Reasons for their break-up remain unknown to members of the public.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com