Burna Boy has apologised for his comments criticising Afrobeats music, saying that they stemmed from a place of unhappiness.
The initial comments divided fan opinion back in 2023, when the Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer spoke to Zane Lowe for Apple Music, and shared that he thought the Afrobeats genre as a whole was devoid of any deeper meaning.
“Half of them, [actually,] 90 per cent of them, have almost no real-life experiences that they can understand,” he claimed. “That’s why you hear most Nigerian music, African 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’s just a great time, an amazing time,” he added. “But at the end of the day, life isn’t an amazing time.”
Now, two years on, the artist –who became the first African artist to headline a stadium show in the UK in 2023 – has looked back at his comments and said that it came in retaliation for feeling like he was being confined to one genre.
“I didn’t understand why people wanted my music to be inside one box,” he said when speaking to BBC 1Xtra’s Eddie Kadi, in a new interview.
Burna says he was "in a dark place mentally" when he made the comments.
"I wasn't the happiest man in the world," he says
He says the "division" his words caused helped him to "come to terms" with his opinion.
"I got the point of the Afrobeats tag in that moment," he says.
"I totally get it and I apologise for that confusion."
"I learnt to embrace the fact that I will always be different," he says.
"I'm not going to be the favourite but I'm going to be the best."
Burna Boy has apologised for his comments criticising Afrobeats music, saying that they stemmed from a place of unhappiness.
The initial comments divided fan opinion back in 2023, when the Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer spoke to Zane Lowe for Apple Music, and shared that he thought the Afrobeats genre as a whole was devoid of any deeper meaning.
“Half of them, [actually,] 90 per cent of them, have almost no real-life experiences that they can understand,” he claimed. “That’s why you hear most Nigerian music, African 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’s just a great time, an amazing time,” he added. “But at the end of the day, life isn’t an amazing time.”
Now, two years on, the artist –who became the first African artist to headline a stadium show in the UK in 2023 – has looked back at his comments and said that it came in retaliation for feeling like he was being confined to one genre.
“I didn’t understand why people wanted my music to be inside one box,” he said when speaking to BBC 1Xtra’s Eddie Kadi, in a new interview.
Burna says he was "in a dark place mentally" when he made the comments.
"I wasn't the happiest man in the world," he says
He says the "division" his words caused helped him to "come to terms" with his opinion.
"I got the point of the Afrobeats tag in that moment," he says.
"I totally get it and I apologise for that confusion."
"I learnt to embrace the fact that I will always be different," he says.
"I'm not going to be the favourite but I'm going to be the best."
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