Receiving critical acclaim and hitting No 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, playing a sold-out show at O2 Academy Brixton and spending three consecutive months as YouTube’s ‘Artist on the Rise’ in 2018 alone, Damini Ogulu, AKA Burna Boy, has quickly become one of the hottest names in Afro-fusion music. Achieving the highest possible musical accolades in his native Nigeria, Burna Boy’s growing international recognition sees him well-placed for global domination in the years to come.
Breaking onto the scene with his 2012 hit “Like To Party”, Burna Boy’s sultry, dynamic vocals rode seamlessly over the tracks anthemic instrumental, while the double-time rise and fall of his drawled delivery on “Run My Race” kept pace with its feverish synth lines. This versatility has come to garner wider recognition for the rising artist’s talent, having been selected for features by Fall Out Boy, Lily Allen and Major Lazer throughout 2018. Burna Boy is far from a voice-for-hire however, with arguably his best body of work, 2018’s album Outside, in turn featuring Allen on guest vocals, as well as similarly ascendent newcomers like London’s J Hus. Aside from its Billboard chart success, Outside received rapturous acclaim at home, winning the 2018 Nigerian Entertainment Awards’ Album of the Year, assertively positioning Burna Boy as Nigeria’s hottest musical talent.
With a collaborative EP with Los Angeles’ DJDS released and a Coachella lineup announcement in 2019, Burna Boy is set to continue bringing Afro-fusion music to the world’s biggest stages in the coming years.