All eyes on dis Burna Boy
Ahead of his performance at the African Music Concert this weekend, Burna Boy let Helen Herimbi in on why all eyes are on him
I, CAN I please speak to the Nigerian Don Gorgon?” “Hol’ on.” A few seconds later, the same voice comes back onto the line. “Hello?” “Wait,” I cackle, “if it was you who answered in the first place, why did I have to hold on?”
Damini “Burna Boy” Ogulu (pictured) laughs, amused at his game. The Nigerian-born reggae and dancehall artist who frequently calls himself “the original Don Gorgon” and went as far as to release a song named after the infamous Jamaican DJ last year is one of the most anticipated acts on the African Music Concert stage.
The concert, originally named the SA Meets Africa concert, which was scheduled for last month was postponed and, with the more inclusive name African Music Concert, will now take place at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday. It will feature the likes of Bucie, Victoria Kimani, Davido, Cassper Nyovest, Wizkid, Cashtime Fam, Dama Do Bling and more.
“I honestly don’t know what people can expect,” he says of his performance at the concert, “I don’t plan stuff like this until I see how crazy it’s going to be, then I see what to do.”
Although he released two mixtapes in 2011, Burn Notice and Burn Identity, it is his 2013 album, LIFE (Leaving an Impact for Eternity) that really put him on the map. This is thanks in large part to songs like Tonight and Like to Party which were singles off that album. His fun video for his hit, Yawa Dey, enjoyed heavy rotation on music TV channels and the artist who often performs and shoots his videos in South Africa is now widely known as a go-to chorus king.
Even Heavy K has featured him on Therapy off the producer’s Respect the Drumboss double album. “Heavy K is one of the most humble people I’ve ever seen,” said Burna Boy, “and we just had chemistry, man.”
South Africans will already be familiar with his contribution to Baddest – the Keirnan “AKA” Forbes song that also features Yanga and Khuli Chana – but Burna Boy is probably most loved all over the continent for the infectious chorus he renders on AKA’s All Eyes on Me.
“All Eyes on Me happened naturally,” he recollects, “We had all already met each other and I think I was on tour at the time. Kiernan actually sent me the beat, I did my thing on it and sent it back and it became very poplar. We’ve been inseparable ever since. It’s just a natural ting, yeah.”
He often peppers his speech on the phone – and lyrics in songs – with patois and pidgin English but Burna Boy doesn’t want to be boxed into a genre. While he chooses instrumentals that are decidedly afrobeat to complement the delivery of his lyrics, he is still considered the face of a young, African reggae/dancehall movement. All this at just 24 years old.
“It’s something that’s been in me and been the plan for me even before I was born,” he explains. “It’s got nothing to do with age or anything, it’s just a blessing really. I don’t even consider myself a dancehall or reggae artist. I’m just an artist. It’s like, I’m sure if you took me to China, I’m sure I’ll connect with that culture too, see what I’m saying? Yeah, that would be interesting to hear, right?”
Having cut ties with Aristrokrat Records (which is also home to Leriq), Burna Boy established his own label, Spaceship Entertainment, and appointed himself the chief executive earlier this year. He followed that up with Rockstar, and the well-received Soke which is always on MTV Base.
This song is likely to appear on Burna Boy’s upcoming album: On a Spaceship. Due for release on November 25, Burna Boy says the album “is like evolution, really. It’s like from good to better to best and now I’m better than best, you know?”
“At this point in my life and career,” he continues, “I feel like I’m on a spaceship because I’m not being or doing the same things that are happening on earth.
“I’m not doing the regular stuff you expect to hear on this album. I’m not regular. I’m doing what I feel should be done and that puts me on a spaceship because I’m not influenced or moved by anything that’s happening around me. I feel like if you get the album, it will feel like you know me on a personal level.”
Catch Burna Boy and more at the African Music Concert taking place at the Nasrec Expo Centre on November 21. Tickets are available at Computicket.