1. His real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu
Burna Boy was born on the 2nd of July, 1991 in Ahaoda, Rivers State, Nigeria. He moved to Lagos State at an early stage of his life and began his music career there. Burna Boy had his early education in the Montessori International School and from there moved to have his secondary education at Corona, Agbara, Lagos State after which he moved to the United Kingdom to complete his studying. He studied Media Technology at the University of Sussex.
2. Burna draws his inspiration from Nigerian legendary artist, Fela Kuti
It is evident enough that Burna Boy samples a lot of Fela Kuti’s songs and he doesn’t deny that. He has publicly revealed that Fela Kuti is his Idol. Also, his grandfather Benson Idonije once managed Fela Kuti.
Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Fela Kuti or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer, pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre, human rights activist, and political maverick. He has been called “superstar, musician, singer, Panafricanist, polygamist, mystic, legend.” During the height of his popularity, he was often hailed as one of Africa’s most “challenging and charismatic music performers.”
Burna Boy describes his music as Afro-fusion, a genre that blends Afrobeats, dancehall riddims, reggae, American rap and R&B. August Brown of the Los Angeles Times said Burna Boy’s sound is “savvy and modern but undistracted by obvious crossover moves”.
3. Burna Boy previously dated British-Jamaican artist Stefflon Don
The pair, who started dating in early 2019 had a rocky relationship, with their being several claims of infidelity. Eventually, Burna Boy and Stefflon Don split after three years of being together. It’s unclear when the couple split and if there is a reason behind it, but the split comes after previous news that Burna Boy had cheated on his girlfriend over the course of their relationship.
4. In 2021, his album Twice as Tall won the Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards
It was second time lucky for the Afrobeats star who landed a Grammy award for his album Twice As Tall at the ceremony, as he missed out to veteran Beninese singer, Angelique Kidjo at the 2020 awards. As he accepted the Best Global Music Album award from his home in Lagos, Nigeria, Burna, declared: “This is a big win for my generation of Africans all over the world.” “This should be a lesson to every African out there: No matter where you are, no matter what you plan to do, you can achieve it…,” he added.
Twice as Tall was released on 14 August 2020, and was executive produced by Diddy and Burna’s mother Bose Ogulu. The album became his highest-charting project, debuting at number 1 on the Billboard World Albums Chart. The album was nominated under the World Music Album category in the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards alongside other entertainers like Antibalas, Bebel Gilberto, Anoushka Shankar and Tianariwen.
5. He became famous in 2012 after releasing “Like to Party” from his debut album, L.I.F.E
In 2012, “Like To Party” was released as the lead single to Burna Boy’s debut studio album L.I.F.E (2013) which served as the follow-up to his second mixtape Burn Identity (2011). The song put the Nigerian artist on the world map and eventually helped the album sell 40,000 copies on the first day of its release. The music video for the song was shot and directed in Lagos by Adasa Cookey.
6. He’s the first Nigerian to headline at Madison Square Garden
History had been made at Madison Square Garden as Burna Boy headlined and became the first Nigerian artist to do so. The MSG show follows the Grammy-winning artist’s other impressive arena concerts at London’s O2 and LA’s Hollywood Bowl this year, as well as coast-to-coast festival runs at New York’s Governors Ball and San Francisco’s Outside Lands.
7. In 2019, he won his first BET Award for Best International Act
Burna added another achievement to his repertoire at the BET awards 2021 where he won the Best International Act. The award was received by Burna Boy’s mum and manager, Bose Ogulu, who in her acceptance speech, said the message from Burna to every black person is to “remember you were Africans before you became anything else”. With this win, Burna Boy became the first African artiste to bag three nominations and wins consecutively, having won the BET Award in 2019, 2020 and now in 2021.
8. Burna Boy performed before a sold-out crowd at London’s O2 Academy Brixton
Burna Boy made history as the first African artist to sell out and shut down a show at The O2 Academy with its 2,000 capacity on the 7th of October 2018. The Nigerian music star took to the O2 Academy in Brixton to perform some of his biggest songs such as “Sekkle Down”, “Ye” and “Heaven’s Gate”. The venue has hosted legendary performances and the stage has seen an incredible line-up of artists over the years. Some of them include Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse, The Clash, Rhianna, Lady Gaga, Kasabian, Florence and the Machine, The Strokes, Blur, and Coldplay.
9. He has been in a feud with South African rapper AKA over anti-Nigerian tweets
AKA and Burna Boy were once besties, working on the hit tracks All Eyes on Me and Baddest together. But things took a turn for the worse in 2019 when Burna Boy urged black foreigners in SA to protect themselves against the xenophobic attacks and alleged discrimination in the country at the time. He also told AKA, in a now-deleted tweet, to “beef up” his security. AKA called out Burna Boy and asked for an apology. Over time, AKA has since tried to downplay the feud, telling fans last that their tweet about the beef was better left in 2019.
10. Burna Boy became the first Afrobeat artist to sell out the OVO Arena Wembley (formerly known as the Wembley arena)
In November 2019, Burna Boy became the first Afrobeat artist to sell out the 12,500-capacity OVO Arena Wembley. It’s London’s second largest indoor arena after the O2 Arena and the ninth-largest in the United Kingdom. Burna was nominated alongside fellow Nigerian, Teni the Entertainer, South Africa’s Prince Kaybee, Toofan, Harmonize and Nasty C.
11. His fourth studio album African Giant won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards
Burna Boy and 2Baba were among the artists that won awards at the 6th All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA). Burna’s fourth studio album African Giant won Album of the Year. The album also made Burna Boy win an Edison award in the World Album category for African Giant, and the Best International Act at the MOBO Awards.
12. Burna Boy appeared on the cover of GQ Magazine
Burna Boy appeared on the cover of the May 2021 edition of the British edition of GQ Magazine. The Grammy Award winner was interviewed by popular British-Nigerian storyteller Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom and talked about his humble beginnings in Port Harcourt, what his Grammy win means for Africa and much more.
13. He had an altercation with fellow Nigerian musician Davido
Davido allegedly had fight with fellow Nigerian singer Burna Boy a.k.a African Giant in Accra, Ghana. In a video that was shared on social media, a visibly upset Davido is seen charging at a man reported to be Burna Boy. Reports have it that the brawl allegedly started after Burna Boy reportedly moved towards Davido’s camp in the club. According to reports, the African Giant was allegedly angered as the DJ in the club continued to play different songs by Davido, despite the fact that Wizkid and Burna Boy were in the club. In 2022, The Burna Boy took to his Instagram story to inform his fans that he has “no issue” with Davido, assuring that they have now settled their drawn out rift.
14. In 2022, he became the first Artist to sell-out Ziggo Dome
The Nigerian singer sold out Amsterdam’s 17,000-capacity dome during his Space Drift Concert. 16,500 fans of the ‘African Giant’ crooner joined him in the Dome as he performed to their satisfaction during his 2-day concert. Ziggo Dome is an indoor arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is named after the Dutch cable TV provider Ziggo.
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