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Burna Boy: A World Literature FigureBurna Boy is a Nigerian-born rapper that has had global success. He defines his music as "Afrofusion," songs with a base of Afrobeat and a variety of other genres mixed in. Born Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu in 1991 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Burna Boy began making music at the age of 10.
At 19, he started to connect to Nigerian music, specifically the preferred genres of his father and grandfather. Through this process, he created his own genre of music, Afrofusion. His grandfather was the manager of Fela Kuti, the creator of Afrobeat, and Burna’s mother followed in her father’s footsteps and currently manages her son’s career, she is known as Mama Burna. He released his debut album in 2013, and has since continued to produce music and collaborate with artists such as WizKid, Ed Sheeran, 2face and Sam Smith. His music was featured in the 2019 Lion King, and he has performed at Coachella, a popular music festival in California. Burna Boy studied media at the University of Sussex in England and his work is hugely successful in the UK. He largely sings in a combination of Igbo, Yoruba, and pidgin english. Burna intentionally does not translate his music to english because Americans are not expected to translate or adjust to different audiences, so why would he? Burna Boy addresses colonial oppression and the need for change in his work. He spoke about his frustration with the school system, stating that “the schools in Nigeria would rather teach you another man’s history than your own” “We were angry, and that was the foundation for our rebellion. Our subconscious, our inner man, was telling us: ‘Bro, you’re being brainwashed’.” (Perry, 2020). “That’s something to fight against. That’s something that needs to be f---ing blown up into f---ing space.”
While Burna Boy has historically addressed oppression and injustice in his music, in October 2020 he released a song, “20 10 20” that created waves across the musical world and popular culture. This song was made to commemorate the people killed at a peaceful protest against police brutality on the 20th of October, 2020, known as the Lekki Massacre. Nigerian security forces fired on the crowd and more than 10 people were killed.
Burna Boy posted on twitter, stating that “I HAVE NOT SLEPT since 20/10/2020. I close my eyes and all I see is Lekki toll gate. I’ve seen a lot of Violence and death in my Life but this is the one that has Traumatized me” (@burnaboy). He released “20 10 20” only nine days after the massacre took place, and set up a fund for all proceeds from the song to go to the victim’s families. He also purchased billboards with the message #EndSARS.
The song ends with the audio from the massacre, gunshots echoing. Around this time, Burna Boy also performed at the Black Entertainment Television awards. His performance, linked below, is in front of images from EndSARS protests, he and his bandmates wear shirts saying #StopPoliceBrutality, and after his performance ends, he dedicates the performance to “everyone that has lost their lives at the hands of SARS and all kinds of police brutality,” and lists out the names of Nigerian victims killed by SARS. In a foreboding statement, Burna states that “this is the most important moment in Nigeria’s history… that is what we are witnessing right now because if nothing changes after this, if this doesn’t work, then it is over” (Reilly, 2020). Burna Boy has brought international attention to the EndSARS movement and has utilized his art form to engage members of the global community in an issue that does not end at national borders.
Burna Boy is a best-seller because his work speaks to people internationally. Issues of injustice, colonial oppression, and police brutality are not restricted within national boundaries. His music sets him apart from other popular creators because of his unique style and the raw emotions that he puts into the work. His drive for revolutionary change has made his work on the EndSARS campaign impactful.
Burna Boy is a revolutionary world figure in this movement, he says that “a revolution is needed, and I want to inspire it. I’m painting a picture of what we already see every day, but maybe no one has painted the picture in an honest form before” (Perry, 2020). Beyond his lyrics in song, his performance and social media presence are politically powerful. When Coachella announced that Burna Boy would be in the performance line up, and made his name smaller than other performers listed on the line up, he responded by posting on instagram “I really appreciate you, but I don’t appreciate the way my name is written so small in your bill. I am an AFRICAN GIANT and will not be reduced to whatever that tiny writing means. Fix tings quick please.” Burna’s self-advocacy is not only empowering for himself and his career, but also empowers others who have similar experiences to him. He creates a voice and space marginalized people who are in predominantly white, western spaces and experience discrimination. Burna has spoken on the Black Lives Matter movement, in an acceptance speech he stated that:
“Around 1835, there was a mission to turn Africa, the nation of Africa, into a dominated nation. Now is the time to overturn that and go back to the royalty that we were. Because in order for black lives to matter, Africa must matter."
In this speech, Burna addresses issues of colonialism and connects movements internationally. Burna Boy attributes his global success to his awareness of international injustice, stating “If I hadn’t become this global, I wouldn’t have been able to see first-hand the marginalization, injustice and reality outside of my constituency” (Harmsworth, 2020). It is clear that as Burna’s career has grown, so has his political and social impact, and the work he has done for the #EndSARS movement highlights this, as the release of 20 10 20 prompted countless headlines and news stories, drawing attention to the Lekki Massacre and the oppression of Nigerian people. In the video below, Burna Boy speaks to a masked crowd in London at an #EndSARS protest. An image captured from this protest is the header for the page of this website. The crowd records him, demonstrating the influence that attendees know his speech will make, especially once it is uploaded to the internet, and raise their fists in solidarity. |