IS BURNABOY IN SELF-DESTRUCT MODE?

On Wednesday, February the 13th, 2020, self-acclaimed African Giant Burna Boy took to social media to declare himself the best, as better than not just artistes of this current era, but since Fela Kuti, placing himself in higher regard than a very long list of respected and successful musicians. And then when a fan remarked that it was others that paved the way for him, Burna Boy responded by shading Nigerian artistes that had made grounds overseas before him, who obviously include Psquare, Davido, and Wizkid, by saying that they had made us look weak by begging and paying the western world to like them.

As expected outrage from fans followed, and then a couple of days later Burna Boy again took to twitter to properly explain himself openly declaring that nobody outside Afrobeat legend, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti or his family can say that they paved the way for him.

It is a bold declaration, one that he has since deleted from his Twitter timeline, but was he right about the facts that he stated? Maybe. Can anybody outrightly say that they played a key role in the rise of Burna Boy? Can anyone truly point out the work they did for him directly, which helped him in becoming a global brand? Before the ye singer went international, he had fans, certainly not as many as he has today, and did equally amazing music but he was largely seen as just another star not quite in the league of the top 2 Davido and Wizkid. A little bit of luck, consistent hard work and of course his natural talent skyrocketed his career creating brand awareness for him outside Africa. It was an opportunity that many before him had received but not had the kind of follow up that he has had. In the just over 2 years that have followed, Burna Boy has by awards ceremony status held down the position of being Africa’s best act, released more equally amazing music, been invited as a guest on top international shows, featured on Beyonce’s The Lion King album with the only guest artiste with his own song, scored his first UK number 1 song, got nominated at and won international awards, sold-out shows at the lead performer, and performed on some of the biggest stages worldwide.

 

His relationship with British rapper and singer, Stefflondon certainly helped the push and a little sprinkle of arrogance when the Coachella artwork was released and his name was written in small fonts showed the world exactly who Burna Boy is, a talented hardworking artiste that wasn’t about to take nonsense from anybody no matter what was being brought to the table.

 

Back to the tweets, Burna Boy scored himself praise for paving his own way but didn’t claim to help others of the afrobeat/afrobeats genre. But even though, many still reckon that if there wasn’t already a growing interest from the rest of the world in music from Sub-Saharan Africa, Burna Boy wouldn't have been able to reach the heights he has today, which could easily be the truth. Another concern that many music lovers seem to have with the rant is the unwarranted digs at their longterm faves, and have labeled this as just another showcase of arrogance and pride from the Anybody singer. Whether Burna Boy understands this or not, the power and opinion of fans is something that every artiste should be aware of, and some like Mr. Eazi found out a little too late.

 

Once upon a time, Mr. Eazi looked like the next big thing, he really looked it. His songs were booming home and abroad, fans embraced him like he was the best thing since sliced bread, and even when he staged his first Lagos concert on the same day with Davido’s industry nite special and Reekado Banks Africa shine-based concert, he won that battle by a landslide. But then a few rather harmless but hurtful utterances when putting Nigeria and Ghana in comparison lost him a large chunk of his diehard fans, and while he is still a top top artiste, he has not quite been able to reach the status that he once enjoyed within the shores of Nigeria. His words hurt his brand and we fear that the fans general understanding of Burna Boy’s tweets might receive a similar response. It isn’t the first time however that Burnaboy’s words would put him in a bubble.

 

In 2015 he threatened to hospitalize or kill bloggers who write bad things about him and then in 2019 he was quoted by international music website billboard.com as having said that Nigerians love him now because the rest of the world does. He always seems to be able to move the attention away from the things he says and to direct focus to his music, and we hope, that he can pull it off again.