Burna Boy

Born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, on July 2, 1991, composer and singer Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, creates his own blend of musical styles: hip-hop, reggae, dance and funk are seasoned with Afrobeat and traditional African rhythms. From his debut album L.I.F.E (2013), ranked No. 7 in the U.S. Billboard reggae section, stands out the track "Like to Party", followed by four other singles. This debut album, produced by his compatriot Leriq, makes a big impact in Nigeria. In 2014, Burna Boy broke away from the Aristokrat label to create his own production structure, Spaceship Entertainment. He successively recorded the albums On a Spaceship (2015), Outside (2018), African Giant (2019) and collaborated with various Western artists such as rock band Fall Out Boy, British singer Lily Allen, rapper Dave, Major Lazer, DJ Snake and Jorja Smith, who invited him to sing on their tracks. In 2019, he joins the soundtrack of the animated film The Lion King: The Gift to sing "Ja Ara E", produced by Beyoncé. In the wake of this, Burna Boy unveils his fourth album, named African Giant, which appears at number 16 in the UK chart. It is followed by Twice as Tall, which improves on this performance by reaching number 11 in 2020, thanks in particular to the single "Real Life", which links him with rapper Stormzy. Burna Boy multiplied his collaborations the following year, with Don Jazzy, Polo G, Justin Bieber and Wizkid. In 2022, while the album Love, Damini climbed to #2 in the UK, South Africa consecrated its track "Last Last" by giving it the top spot in the charts, before the UK got excited about the single "For My Hand", recorded with Ed Sheeran (#18). In August 2023, Burna Boy releases his seventh studio album, I Told Them... which took him to his first UK number-one spot. The album featured a number of collaborations, including 21 Savage on "On the Top of the World", Dave on "Cheat on Me" , Seyi Vibez on "Giza " and J. Cole on "Thanks". The same applies to its successor No Sign of Weakness (2025), ranked No. 1 in Nigeria and No. 6 in the UK, with contributions from Travis Scott ("TaTaTa"), Mick Jagger ("Empty Chairs"), Stromae ("Pardon") and Shaboozey ("Change Your Mind"), adding to the album's diversity.