The feat of Burna Boy’s Grammy award

Music is what tells us that the human race is greater than we realise.
-Napoléon Bonaparte

Sir: It takes passion, persistent practice and professionalism to provide the sweet ingredients in the pot pourri of a music artist’s global success. But there is more to it than meets the eye. In addition to these three facilitating factors, it also takes self-discovery-by digging deep to find the diamonds within – for the creative individual to become who he really is and attain uniqueness.

All these bring to mind the interesting musical trajectory of Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, popularly known in the music world as Burna Boy. “The Nigerian powerhouse” as he is currently referred to recently hit the bull’s eye when he clinched and brought home the  prestigious award of the Best Global Music Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards being the 63rd edition of the ceremony. The award was for his 2020 hit album titled: ‘‘Twice as Tall’’. This marks his first career Grammy win. His album outshone that of fellow nominees, Antibalas, Bebel Gilberto, Anoushka Shankar and Tinariwen. A feat, isn’t it?

Of course, it is! What with wave-making singles such as “Wonderful” released on June 26, 2020,”Monsters You Made” and “Real Life” released on August 14, 2020. Add the thrilling and colourful video promotions of these hit songs and one gets to understand that ‘‘music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends” as Alphonse de Lamartine reiterated.

According to Wikipedia, the Nigerian singer, songwriter, rapper and dance hall artist who was born in Port Harcourt on 2ndJuly 1991 has become one of the biggest and most successful African artists in the 21st century. He rose to prominence in 2012 after releasing “Like to Party,” the lead single from his debut studio album ‘’L.I.F.E’’. Ever since, the winner of the MTV Europe Music Award for Best African Act in 2019 has not looked back.

Worthy of note is that Burna Boy happens to be the first-ever winner in this category after its remodeling. It was formerly known as Best World Music Album. The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honour presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe. He was nominated for the Grammy in 2020 for his album, ‘‘The African Giant’’ but he lost the category to Angelique Kidjo.

Yet, he never gave up! In fact,, Kidjo, graciously dedicated the award to Burna Boy, describing him as “one of the rising African stars that is taking the world musical stage by storm.” Now, she has been proved right.

Entertainment is serious business as evident in the socio-economic sphere of both the United States and India. Music and movies combined with a well-articulated tourism industry can generate jobs for the youths, serve as a strong unifying force, reposition Nigeria with a positive global image and get us out of the economic woods.

Join me to give three loud gbosas to Burna Boy, the true African giant.

Ayo Oyoze Baje.