Burnaboy
Burna Boy is the stage name of Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer who was born on July 2, 1991.
He became famous after releasing "Like to Party," the main song off his debut studio album, L.I.F.E., in 2012.
In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Warner Music Group internationally and Bad Habit/Atlantic Records in the US. Outside, his third studio album, was his first major-label release.
He was named an Apple Music Up Next artist in 2019 and won Best International Act at the BET Awards that year. African Giant, his fourth studio album, was released in July 2019 and was nominated for a Best World Music Album Grammy Award as well as winning Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards. At the 2020 VGMAs, he received the African Artist of the Year award.
Burna Boy became the first Nigerian artist to receive back-to-back Grammy nominations when his fifth studio album, Twice as Tall, was released in August 2020.
Twice as Tall was nominated in the same category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Twice As Tall took home the 63rd Annual Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2021.
Burna Boy's sixth studio album, Love, Damini, was released in July 2022. It also set a record for the highest debut of an African album on Billboard, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France.
Early Life
The capital of Nigeria's Rivers State, Port Harcourt, is the birthplace of Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu.
His father, Samuel, had a welding business, while his mother, Bose Ogulu, worked as a translator. Benson Idonije, his maternal grandfather, once worked as Fela Kuti's manager. Later, his mother would take over as his boss.
Ogulu was born and raised in southern Nigeria, where he first used FL Studio to create his own beats. In order to further his education, he moved to London after attending Corona Secondary School in Agbara, Ogun State. Later, from 2008 to 2009, he studied media technology at the University of Sussex.
From 2009 to 2010, he studied media communications and culture at Oxford Brookes University. Following his return to Port Harcourt, he accepted a one-year internship at Rhythm 93.7 FM. After arriving back in Lagos, he started his music career.
Career
On August 12, 2013, Burna Boy's first studio album, L.I.F.E, was made available.
It was the follow-up to his second mixtape, Burn Identity. 40,000 copies of the record were sold on the first day it was available. Later, Aristokrat Records paid Uba Pacific 10,000,000 for the marketing rights. [19] Five singles—"Like to Party," "Tonight," "Always Love You," "Run My Race," and "Yawa Dey"—were released before the album's official release. Leriq produced L.I.F.E totally, and a number of artists, including 2face Idibia, M.I, Timaya, Olamide, Reminisce, and Wizkid, made cameo appearances.
The album came in at number 10 on Nigeria Entertainment Today's choice of the top 12 albums of 2013.
The music on the album was influenced by Bob Marley, King Sunny Ade, and Fela Kuti. Music critics gave it mostly favorable reviews and praised the production.
It was a nominee for the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards' Best Album of the Year category. L.I.F.E. peaked at number seven on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in August 2013.
Controversy
His armed bodyguards allegedly shot and injured two people at a Lagos nightclub on June 8, 2022.
The altercation allegedly started after the wife of one of the victims turned down Burna Boy's invitation to join him in the club's VIP area.
Five security officers connected to Burna Boy were detained and accused of attempting to kill them.
Later, the woman claimed that Burna Boy and his family had used hush money to try to silence her family. The club has not yet made the shooting's CCTV footage available.
Personal Life
In 2018, Burna Boy and British rapper Stefflon Don started dating. They split in 2022.
Networth
With a net worth of $35 million in 2022, Burna Boy is among the wealthiest artists in both Nigeria and Africa.
Unquestionably, one of the best musicians in both Africa and the entire world is Burna Boy. At the Grammys in 2021, he took home the prize for best album of world music.
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