Ex Convict Tale: Burna Boy finally reacts

Burna Boy

After several months of deliberate silence, controversial dance hall star, Burna Boy, has finally reacted to the widespread tale of him being an ex convict in the UK.

The tattoo-loving entertainer bared-it-all in this explosive encounter monitored by SHOWBIZPLUSng for your reading delight.

 

 

How has life in the music industry been so far?

 

It has been mixed to be honest with you. It’s been rough and it’s been sweet. But the good right now is that this is just the beginning of everything. I’ve not been in this industry for more than five years. Better things and better times will come for sure.

 

How did you start music?

 I started music since I was born. From a very young age I was already into Hiphop and music. Professionally, I started in 2010. Since then I have dropped two mixtapes, one album, singles and some other projects. People think I started when I did “I Like to Party” but I have been doing music for a long time before then. But as they say “Na condition make crayfish bend”. I started music in Port Harcourt because that is where I am from but over there music is not taken seriously like Lagos. Nobody really cares about music and because of that, my music suffered because of where I came from. From that 2010 to 2012 it was just passion driving me to do it. Things began to happen for me when in 2012 I moved to Lagos. If you listen to my song “Yawadey” I said all these things. Lagos is so much different from what I started with in Port Harcourt. Lagos is the place where music actually lives. If I was born and brought up in Lagos I would have counted maybe my 10th anniversary as an artiste by now. Coming to Lagos changed everything for me.

 

The song “I like to Party” changed everything for you, did you know it was going to be such a success?

I recorded that song before I came to Lagos and when I moved down here I told myself that this was the song that I was going to launch myself with. It was a different sound and I thought it would be great to introduce myself to a larger audience with that. I had some mixtapes before that, but that was for people who were really into music. I Like to Party” was for the bigger and commercial market and we thank God that it was such a success. We knew it was a good song, so yes, we knew it was going to be a success.

 

When you were recording your album did you ever think you were going to be this big?

 

Of course I knew. I never do anything and expect nothing less than success.  I looked at the industry and saw that there wasn’t anyone doing what I wanted to do so I just knew it was going to work out. As far as the album I didn’t even expect it to do well, I didn’t really care about it, but it ended up selling 50,000 copies the first day. 

 

 Any plans for a second album?

I don’t really have any plans for now. I can drop anytime any day.  I can drop my album tomorrow. I have lots of materials but I don’t really know. I can’t tell you a date or a time because we have not started planning for that.

 

There have been some controversial reports about you, one of such reports said you are an ex-convict, another alleged you left your record label, are they true?

 

One thing I have come to realize is that there will always be reports.  When those reports came out, I came out with my own side of the story. All of those were false.

 

So you’re still with Aristocrat?

Of course I am still with Aristocrat.

 

What is that achievement that will make you satisfied as a musician? 

That will be to win a Grammy. The Grammy is the biggest music award in the world. So winning it will indicate that you are one of the biggest musicians in the world. That’s a huge one.

 

People are always quick to point to the fact that your grandfather used to be Fela’s manager, did that in anyway influence your career?

 

Yes, it has had a great influence in my career. It is because of my grandfather that I am doing the type of music I am doing.  He would never let me do any other type of music apart from the Fela’s type of music. But I‘m not sure I can do exactly like Fela, so I came out with my own style.

 

When you were nominated in the “Best New Act”  category of the MAMAs did you have any ill feeling towards it?

 I didn’t have any negative feeling because they had an excuse they haven’t done the MTV Africa Music Awards in four years and it’s valid. So they were judging from the four years ago and I’m only three years old in the game so it is very valid. 

 

How many awards have you won before? 

I’ve actually never counted it before; you’ll be the first to know as soon as I do so.

 

When the felabration thing happened, many people were saying a lot of things, how did that make you feel?

 It was a funny period and a real eye opener for me. Those periods just made me realize that people were not as smart as I thought they were, and it probably made me one of the best performers in the country, those are the two things it made me realize. I didn’t even come to say that Fela used to perform with only pants or so. But we were celebrating Fela and we have seen pictures and heard about how he used to be cladded only on pants and just walk around his house freely. I just did that to celebrate him, nothing else.

 

Has success changed you in any way?

 I don’t think so. Maybe I wouldn’t be the right person to answer this question but from my own observations it hasn’t changed me at all. It just made me smarter as a person and made me appreciate life more.

 

Who are you looking to collaborate with again in this industry?

I am not really looking forward to any collaboration within the Nigerian music industry again because I haven’t gotten someone that will suit my kind of music. I will prefer right now to work with an American artiste that will compliment my style of music.

 

Of all the awards you have gotten, which has been your favourite so far?

 

I would have to say the Nigerian Entertainment Awards which held in America. I didn’t attend the awards ceremony, yet I won, that made it very special and it also made me know that they were fair people.

 

Does award really mean so much to you as an artiste?

 I don’t think so. My music and the fans appreciation mean something to me, not an award. 

ENTERTAINMENT EXPRESS-STEVE DEDE