burna boy

Burna Boy And Polo G ‘Want It All’ In Their Cinematic Collaboration

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Afropop sensation Burna Boy is on a tear. Not only does he have an upcoming headlining set at the Hollywood Bowl — as the first African artist to ever do so — but he’s steadily been dropping a stream of new music that continues to buoy him past the success of his Grammy-winning album, Twice As Tall. Today’s latest actually features one of his most high-profile collaborations to date, with none other than Polo G joining him on the yearning “Want It All.”

In the video for the collaboration, the two artists take turns flexing about their recent accomplishments, recollecting how hard things used to be, and facing up to the pressure that their current success has created. Of course, Polo G is a rising Chicago rapper who is riding high off the success of his No. 1 album, Hall Of Fame, and just announced his own headlining tour in support of it.

Speaking on the collab, Burna said he’s had his eye on Polo for a minute, and was looking forward to working together. “I’ve been watching him for some time, and I just knew this had to get done, but it had to get done in the perfect way where the whole world gets to feel the reality of both of us,” he said. Check out the video above as both artists bask in the glow.

Burna Boy Is A Neighborhood Hero In His ‘Question’ Video

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Nigerian superstar Burna Boy is very much a local hero in his homeland — and you can see just how admired he is in his new video for “Question.” “Question” is the afro-fusion star’s second all-new single of 2021 after “Kilometre,” suggesting that he may already be working toward releasing a follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2020 album Twice As Tall, even though he’s only five months removed from dropping the video for its most recent single, “23.” Also appearing in the “Question” video is Nigerian record producer Don Jazzy, who contributes cameo appearances and ad-libbed vocals throughout.

Burna’s mission to export afro-fusion to the American mainstream will continue this year even without a new album as he heads out on tour, hitting major festivals like Governor’s Ball and Outside Lands, as well as headlining his first major concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Queen Naija, Umi, and Donavan’s Sound Club will join him there as openers, then he’ll be off to France, Spain, and Sweden for more festival dates. A previously planned Twice As Tall tour was unfortunately canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Watch Burna Boy’s “Question” video featuring Don Jazzy above.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

BIA’s Claims On Nicki Minaj’s Livestream Prompt Burna Boy To Issue A Correction

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Burna Boy is calling “cap” on BIA’s claims from her recent appearance on Nicki Minaj’s live stream to debut the “Whole Lotta Money” remix. During the live stream, Nicki asked BIA about Nigerian hitmakers Burna Boy, Davido, and Wizkid, only for BIA to admit that she doesn’t know what any of them look like. Over the weekend, Burna addressed the comment, tweeting that BIA must have been exaggerating because she’s been in his DMs since 2018.

“That babe wey nor know our face don dey my dms since 2018,” he wrote. However, BIA later responded to a fan’s tweet about the comments that she does know what Wizkid looks like, noting that she doesn’t need to know what any of the three Nigerian stars look like to know and appreciate their music.

Then, when the conversation was picked up by Instagram gossip pages, BIA was sure to reply to at least one, explaining that the “DM” Burna referred to was her tagging his song. “Burna, love your music,” she wrote. “Don’t be hurt I said Ion know what U look like. Your girl is beautiful anyway you shouldn’t care. Now, don’t make it seem like I slid on U in 2018 bc I tagged your song.”

She signed off by once again plugging her Nicki Minaj collaboration: “Now back to what’s important. Stream #WholeLottaMoneyRemix.”

Burna Boy Will Headline The Hollywood Bowl For The First Time On His 2021 Tour

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Burna Boy is picking up the celebration of his fifth album, Twice As Tall, where he left off when he triumphantly took home the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album (we here at Uproxx thought he’d been royally snubbed the previous year). Coasting on that Grammy glory, the Nigerian afro-fusion rapper revealed new dates on his Space Drift Arena tour that winds through lots of festivals through 2022 and takes him from North America to Europe.

Burna announced that he will also perform his first headlining show at the Hollywood Bowl, on Friday, October 8th, 2021. Tickets will be available for the public to purchase on Friday, June 18 at 12 p.m. local time.

Burna Boy will also play New York’s Governor’s Ball festival on Sunday, September 26, and San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival on Sunday, October 31.

Below is the full list of dates for Burna Boy’s Space Drift Arena tour. Purchase tickets on his website here.

07/02/2021 – 07/03/2021 — Sumol Summer Festival 2021 @ Ericeira, Portugal
08/20/2021 – 08/21/2021 — Blockfest 2021 @ Tampere, Finland
08/27/2021 — The O2 @ London, UK
09/11/2021 – 09/12/2021 — Parklife Festival 2021 @ Manchester, UK
09/24/2021 – 09/26/2021 — The Governors Ball Music Festival 2021 @ Queens, NY
10/08/2021 — Hollywood Bowl @ Hollywood, CA
10/29/2021 – 10/31/2021 — Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival 2021 @ San Francisco, CA
11/10/2021 — Accorhotels Arena @ Paris, France
11/20/2021 — Arkéa Arena @ Floirac, France
11/21/2021 — Zénith Nantes Métropole @ Nantes, France
06/02/2022 – 06/03/2022 — Primavera Sound Festival Weekend 2 2022 @ Barcelona, Spain
08/11/2022 – 08/13/2022 — Way Out West Festival 2022 @ Gothenburg, Sweden

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Burna Boy Celebrates His Progress With The Upbeat ‘Kilometre’

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Burna Boy‘s first new song of 2021 is “Kilometre,” a meditation on the progress he’s made in his career (as in, “I don’ come, I don’ come, kilometres”). As usual, he employs upbeat production, this time from Chopstix, and a melodic flow that switches between English and Nigerian pidgin to boast about his accomplishments. He denies that any of this happened by accident — although happenstance did somewhat play into his US breakout — insisting, “People think I be Johnny just come / Like I just got rich, like my money just come.”

Debuting the new song on Apple Music 1 radio, Burna told Zane Lowe, “It’s really me talking about how far I’ve come, I’ve come a long way. At the same time, just having fun with it. When the song drops, start running around, wherever you go. Just start running around It doesn’t need an explanation.” Burna also promised a follow-up to his 2020 album Twice As Tall sometime this year: “I’m definitely planning to drop my next album this year,” he revealed. “Especially at the same time I dropped the last one. I’m trying to do that as long as I can.”

Listen to Burna Boy’s new track, “Kilometre,” above.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Burna Boy Advocates For The Power Of Self-Belief In His Inspirational ’23’ Video

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After being shut out at last year’s Grammy Awards, Nigerian superstar Burna Boy is officially a Grammy Award winner after taking home the statue for Best Global Music Album (Twice As Tall) at the 2021 63rd Annual Grammy Awards earlier this month. To celebrate, he has released the inspirational video for his Twice As Tall standout “23.”

Naturally taking inspiration from its iconic namesake, much of the “23” video revolves around the sport of basketball, as seen through the eyes of athletes who are ordinarily invisible: Black women. One of the players the video chooses to highlight is wheelchair-bound, but poses in front of a full case of trophies.

Other women who appear in the video are dancers, designers, and music producers — all fields where Black women are underrepresented — while Burna’s performance sequences play out before projected images of his own accomplishments. “The music make me feel I be Jordan,” he croons on the chorus, encouraging listeners to be the best they can through the life-changing power of self-belief. “Now I understand why them say aiye po gan” — “Now I understand why they say there’s enough space” — he says, highlighting how there is room for everyone to be successful.

Watch Burna Boy’s “23” video above.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Burna Boy And Becky G Team Up For An International Crossover With ‘Rotate’

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As streaming breaks down the barriers of music globally, more and more artists have teamed up across genres and borders to create some truly fascinating combinations. Today we get a great example as Los Angeles-born reggaeton artist Becky G and Nigerian Afrofusion artist Burna Boy link up on “Rotate.” Built on a signature reggaeton beat, the song blends the two artists’ unique sounds, resulting in a scintillating track that could be a hit in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, as well as the US, the melting pot where people from all cultures collide and collaborate.

Becky G, who began her musical career as a pop-oriented rapper before shifting to Spanish lyrics and South-of-the-border sounds, truly exploded in popularity after embracing Latin music. She’s also found success as an actress, appearing in the 2017 Power Rangers film as the yellow Ranger, and being featured in Riot Games’ League Of Legends in 2019 as part of the first virtual rap band. Meanwhile, Burna Boy accidentally blew up in the US after the coincidentally-titled “Ye” exposed him to fans searching for Kanye’s album with the same name. Since then, he’s become one of the primary representative’s of his home country’s music scene, receiving Grammy acknowledgement and seeing his second album Twice As Tall become a hit.

Listen to Becky G and Burna Boy’s “Rotate” above.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.