Grammy award-winning Nigerian singer, Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, has angered netizens with his criticism of Afrobeats.
Burna Boy said that most Afrobeat musicians lack life experiences, which renders their music empty, in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe.
He characterized Afrobeat music as exciting and entertaining but devoid of real-life experiences.
Burna Boy characterized musicians as having their own ups and downs in life, including good days, terrible days, and difficult moments that surround the creation of music.
The self-acclaimed African Giant discussed the necessity for artists to incorporate real-life experiences into their works of art, noting that the genre is “literally nothing”.
Burna Boy said,
“Because of where I am from. The sh*t I have to go through to maneuver and just stay with my crown on my head. (It is harder for people that know you best to love you the most). Because they do not know you best. You just think they do.
When you start going around the world and you start seeing that there are actually motherf**kers that know me a lot than the people that share the same (not experience)… because 90 per cent of them [Nigerian musicians] have no real life experiences which is why most of Nigerian music or African music or afrobeats as people call it, is mostly about nothing, literally nothing.
“It is why you hear most of Nigerian music, or Afrobeats as people call it, is mostly about nothing. Literally nothing. There is no substance to it. Like nobody is talking about anything. It is just a great time. It is an amazing time. But at the end of the day, life is not an amazing time.
No matter how nice of a time you are having now or you are had at some point or you plan to have, you are still going to face life. Me speaking for myself, the artiste is the person who has good days, bad days, great days, and worst days.
So, for me, I feel like music should be the essence of the artiste. The artiste is a person who has good day, bad day, his great days and worst days. So, I’m dropping a project that should be a window for the fans to see those experiences.”
Watch him speak below.
“Afrobrats as you people call it, is mostly about nothing. There’s no substance to it.” – Burnaboy pic.twitter.com/vAsgGBY4uo
— YabaLeftOnline (@yabaleftonline) August 23, 2023
