Burna Boy: Most Afrobeat Songs Lack Substance

Award-winning Afro-fusion singer, Burna Boy says 90 percent of Afrobeat songs “lack substance and real-life experience”. In an interview, the self-proclaimed African Giant spoke about the need for artistes to embody real-life experiences of their songs. Burna Boy argued that many Afrobeats artistes do not have real-life experience, hence why their “songs lack substances”. The 32-year-old Afrofusion singer said most artistes only sing about “having a great time”.

“Because of where I am from. The sh*t I have to go through to maneuver and just stay with my crown on my head,” he said. “(It is harder for people that know you best to love you the most). Because they do not know you best. You just think they do. “When you start going around the world and you start seeing that there are actually motherf**kers that know me a lot than the people that share the same (not experience)… because 90 percent of them do not even share no real life experiences they can understand.

“It is why you hear most of Nigerian music or Afrobeats as people call it, is mostly about nothing. Literally nothing. “There is no substance to it. Like nobody is talking about anything. It is just a great time. It is an amazing time. But at the end of the day, life is not an amazing time. “No matter how nice of a time you are having now or you are had at some point or you plan to have, you are still going to face life. “Me speaking for myself, the artiste is the person who has good days, bad days, great days, and worst days.”

Last year, the singer clarified that his style of music is called Afrofusion, and not Afrobeats. Meanwhile, the ‘Twice As Tall’ hit- maker says if Fela Kuti was alive, most people celebrating his legacy would have demanded his incarceration. Burna Boy suggested that the Afrobeat legend might not have the freedom to express his ideas. He added that he is grateful that Fela existed in an earlier era when people could appreciate his genuine messages and core principles.

“What I have realised is that the times are really funny. Fela in his time was going through things that if he was here today, it might have been a different feeling,” he said. “Like a whole bunch of people from Nigeria who you see today celebrating Fela, are the same people that would have been tagging the police to go and arrest Fela if there was Twitter then. “At the end of the day, I feel like God does not make mistakes.

If he was here today, he may not have the space to explore because there is too much in this day and age that does not interlock with the spirit. “Right now, spirituality is almost non- existent. Now, it is mostly run by stupidity and ignorance. It was still the same back then, but it was not as amplified. “I am grateful for the fact that he existed in his time so that we can get an experience of the true organic nature of what he was, the essence of what he stood for and the messages he passed across to us.”

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