Burna Boy Stands Twice as Tall Indeed
Have you ever listened to Burna? No! You did not get that question right. It is probably why you answered so quickly. The question is not if you have heard Burna (because it will be unbelievable if you have not by now – or at least heard about him). The question is if you have listened to him. Have you partaken in that seamless ecstasy that rips you in several pieces yet makes you whole? Are you in wonder of how two extremes are made possible in one soul? Well, I will tell you that that ability is exclusive only to the African Giant.
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy is one Nigerian artiste who has not spared our ears rings of pleasure in the very unique manner in which he delivers Fela Anikulakpo Kuti’s musical brainchild, Afrobeat. Speaking with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show in August 2019, he likens his musical style which he has coined Afrofusion to a pizza where Afrobeat is the dough cum base and any other genre of music can serve as the flavor. And in fairness to him, he indeed does serve a very rich and delicious recipe.
Over the years, since his debut album L.I.F.E in 2013, he has not relented in making not just the nation, but the entire continent from which he originates, proud. Because of the likes of Burna Boy, Afrobeat now has its own musical chart on the Billboard and has spread around the world, so that it does not come as much of a surprise when the genre is played in clubs and bars across Africa and beyond her shores.
As Chris Murphy of Vulture.com rightly puts it, “What do you do after you become an ‘African Giant’? If you’re Burna Boy, apparently you grow ‘Twice As Tall’…” But this increase in height is not Burna’s only as he becomes the first artist to hit 40 million streams on Boomplay with Odogwu. Nigeria and indeed Africa shares this joy.
On the 14th of August 2020, after a series of announcements, Burna Boy finally released his much anticipated album which was originally intended to be delivered in July, titled Twice as Tall. It is preceded by the international hit album and Grammy nominated album for Best World Music Album of the year 2019, African Giant.
The new album Twice as Tall is very reflective of the artist’s mindset over the past few months after he lost the Grammy award for Best World Music Album to Angelique Kidjo’s album, Celia. Twice as Tall garnered five million streams within an hour of its release.
It has been described as an album that largely portrays the singer’s vulnerabilities. Still, though his vulnerabilities seem to make up a large chunk, appreciation, passion, pride, politics, and God are other themes that the artist sets the album upon.
It begins with an intro track titled Secret Flame which contains words of admonition from a father to his son. Secret Flame samples tracks from Burna Boy’s African Giant album including Another Story and Ye. Then it goes on to sample two tracks from Twice As Tall as well; Level Up (Twice as Tall) and Bank On It. It is animated and is also a comic book now available for sale on several online stores.
Image Source: Instagram
He steps out with Level Up (Twice As Tall) where he features Senegalese artiste, Youssou N’Dour who renders his vocals in a mix of Woluf and English. The song first samples Pat Boone’s Twice As Tall which is a song on the soundtrack of the 1959 movie “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.” In Level Up (Twice as Tall), Burna Boy reveals how distraught losing the Grammy award made him and how he came so close to being envious. But he makes it clear that he has overcome all that now.
The next track Alarm Clock stays true to its name. It is a wake-up call to everybody, saying it is important how they look at themselves. It is also gratitude to God who “…made the magical beings…” and acknowledgment of “Black love”.
Very typically, effortlessly, and unapologetically, Oluwaburna juggles his Nigerian Pidgin, Yoruba and English perfectly as he raps and sings through the album. Apart from inviting the Senegalese Youssou N’Dour over to his side, the audience also meets the very talented Kenyan group, Sauti Sol in Time Flies where they alternate between Swahili and English in a very melodious rendition that makes the listener want to put the song on repeat. The outro of the song is a spoken piece by Bosèdé Ogulu who points out that “From the Niger Delta to all the corners of Africa, America and the world, black people are turning the tables, taking back our place. We will be heard because we matter.”
It is this conscious Africanness that remains one of the many charms of Burna Boy. He has sold Africa to the world and has subtly urged foreign artistes to crossover to the Afro side. The recognition that Africa, especially her music has received on Burna’s credit is not undeserved. As Common raps in his collaboration with John Legend in Glory, “our music is the cut that we bleed through.” This world stage where they can finally see us is such an exhilarating place to be.
Burna Boy has been known to be a very expressive one. His reaction to the font size incident prelude to his performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2019 is only one of those many times when he has proven that he is unwilling to get kicked in the dust. But his expressiveness does not end with his personality alone. His music has been his most vocal medium of expression.
So far, Burna’s collaborations have seemed very deliberate. His versatility and ease in being able to incorporate several artists of various genres into his own musical world go to show that beyond his ability to make good music, he is genuinely passionate about it.
True to Antoinette Isama’s thoughts, “Burna Boy exists on a genre-less plane” as he levitates through the fifteen tracks of his latest album from Level Up (Twice as Tall), to Alarm Clock, Way Too Big, Bebo, Wonderful, Onyeka (Baby), Naughty By Nature, Comma, No Fit Vex, 23, Time Flies, Monsters You Made, Wetin Dey Sup, Real Life, and Bank On It.
He does not keep his hands to himself by inviting only African artistes to collaborate with on the project, but he reaches out beyond the shores of Africa and ropes in artistes like Chris Martin of Coldplay on the track Monsters You Made, a track in which he also features Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo, Stormzy in Real Life, Naughty by Nature in Naughty By Nature. By featuring Aidoo, one can allude to Burna’s academic sentiment.
In the track Onyeka (Baby), Burna Boy alludes to Osita Osadebe by mentioning his Osondi Owendi earlier covered by MC Loph and Flavour Nabania. He also mentions Onyeka Owenu: another veteran in the Nigerian music industry. This points to the fact that he has not lost touch with the ones who laid the foundation for the industry in which he thrives. He also brings back memories of two hit songs of 2017 and 2018 respectively; KiDi’s Odo and D.M.W’s Aza.
In fact, one can read it to mean subtle gratitude. As Angela Bassett says, “…when you show gratitude, you’re able to remember that you didn’t arrive in this place on your journey by yourself…” Although you cannot take the ego away from Burna, his ability to remain thankful is very beautiful indeed.
We would recall that after the release of his African Giant in 2019, Burna in an interview with Julie Adenuga stated that he had grown up listening to the music of Naughty By Nature courtesy of his uncle who was a lot younger. Doing the collaboration with them is apparently a dream come true as it is one project that he has long looked forward to.
The track Naughty By Nature connects with the child in Burna. He seems to consciously show this off as in its second verse, he samples the nursery rhyme Old Roger Is Dead And Gone To His Grave.
He also alludes to his endorsement of Star Lager beer in Way Too Big where he sings, “…took my place as the shine shine bobo of the Nigerian brewery…”
It is noteworthy that Twice As Tall which is also Burna’s fifth studio album was executive produced by Bosèdé Ogulu, Burna Boy’s mother cum manager, and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Combs tweeted on 15th of August 2020, a day after the album was released,
“Dear Africa, you have been heavy on my mind and my heart… I’ve been trying to connect to the motherland for a minute, but I never got a chance to do it properly. When I say properly, I mean in a soulful spiritual way.”
Producers on the album include P2J, Telz, Timbaland, Rexxie, Jae5, Mike Dean, LeriQ, Skread.
Image Source: Twitter
In all, Burna Boy carries the aura of home. Yet, it has not stopped him from taking giant strides onto a spaceship that leads outside the African space to leave an impact for eternity that makes us all twice as tall.
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