Wizkid and Davido can afford to drop 10 below-par singles at a stretch and still have their fans going crazy at the mention of their names.Burna boy enjoys no such luxury.He is not a pretty boy with a charming personality or one whose personal life is a PR dream,he's had to claw up to this present level by being nothing other than an incredible artiste.Burna is something we hadn't and still haven't seen anything like.
He is not your regular Nigerian artiste who says they aren't afro-pop but go on to realize they actually are.He is a mixture of so many natural sounds, he best captures it with the 'afro-fusion' appellation.That baritonal voice whipping up mesmerizing rhythms on some breath-taking melodies.Such a magic recipe.
Burna boy has been around and was one of the very few Nigerian artistes to have a major international deal but the last 2 years have been the most pivotal in his career since 2012 when he dropped the monster hit, Like to Party.2017 was when Burna understood what his craft needed.It had to transcend just an album and singles off it.
He had a unique product; a quite unrivalled one and guaranteed a good song.If he kept himself busy and stayed in our faces with a slew of good releases,he would become a mainstay.He needn't have a Manya like Wizkid or a Fia like Davido,all he had to do was drop or get on a good vibe as consistently as possible.From DJ Jimmy Jatt's Chase to the fire-cracker Chillin Chillin with A.I,he kept the heat coming.
When he dropped Gba along with the bedazzling Deja Vu late that year,he had everyone looking forward to his Outside album dropping early 2018.All he had to do was deliver and even if he decided to go on a hiatus from thereon, it would do practically no harm.Outside turned out arguably the best album by any Nigerian artiste in the last 5 years and debuted at number 3 on the billboard reggae chart.Heaven's gate and Streets of Africa were deliberate attempts to score a global hit and even if none ended up another Man's Not Hot,he made a solid impression.
Google searches for Kanye West's Ye (album) led to Ye,a song off the album and curious listens across the globe led to a regenarated buzz 5 months after its release and Burna capitalized on that to shoot a video for the song.Ironically,that was when it became a hit in Nigeria.What that moment proved was that if you didn't love the songs on Outside then you probably hadn't heard them.
Consistency is the word.That is what has gotten him from the undisputed title of Nigeria's most underrated artiste to the very best at the moment.Despite not being on the same pedestal as a Davido or Wizkid in terms of mega-hits, he has built a reputation as the GoTo man for music out of the ordinary.
The blue print of the previous year extended to 2018 and after just 3 months of the 'mandatory' waiting period for promotion,videos et al, he dropped his first post-album release titled Agbada.After that came Vampire and once Major Lazer caught a hard-on for afro-beats,it was only a matter of time before they kicked it with him.They made a super jam called All My Life.Gbona came and then On the Low.Aggressively in your face.No chills.
It has paid off handsomely.The world already knew the stuff he was made of,he just had to make it count.Burna boy may not have the fanatical following of his contemporaries but he can boast of being loved by every music fan.The Burna boy topic quells a Davido/Wizkid debate.
The willingness of both sets of fans to accept he has something extra their artistes don't exposes not only their sentimental attachment to them but also an acknowledgement of their being first and foremost, lovers of good music. He has not had anything outside of the music working for his brand.Quality,Persistence and Consistency.All it took.
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