African Giant, Burna Boy has by far done an amazing job within a short period of time and is constantly putting Nigeria on the global map through Afrobeats.
5 Times Burna Boy Has Shown He’s Bigger Than Wizkid and Davido
1. The Recording Academy’s Annual Grammy Award
In the history of Nigerian music, and by extension- African music, the Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards has so far been one of the most elusive peaks to break down. Nonetheless, Africans have collectively put in a lot of effort to refine the craft over the years to a globally acceptable standard.
Till today, Burna Boy is the only solo Afrobeats winner of the highly coveted Grammy Awards which he won in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Burna’s greatness isn’t measured by this win alone, he was nominated for the Awards back to back, losing out to Veteran Angelique Kidjo at his first go, and eventually clinching the best Global Album Award for his “Twice As Tall” Album.
As much as Wizkid is the preferred poster boy for Afrobeats, having charted at No. 1 on the Billboard since 2016, Burna Boy has shown that he’s personally more invested in pushing the collective boundaries of Afrobeats.
So far, only one African superstar has been privileged with the huge honour of a performance at the annual Grammy Awards ceremony. In 2020, Burna Boy did not only clinch the Best Global Album category he also sealed his Grammy with an eclectic performance.
2. The Prestigious Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs) Performance & Others
Barely weeks into his sold-out Madison Square Garden event, Burna Boy was back in the USA, about to hold the record for another unprecedented performance in the history of Afrobeats.
Burna Boy closed out the BBMAs with another masterpiece performance that’s already got a lot of outsiders all over the world anticipating the new album. At the moment, he is equally the only Afrobeats frontline to have been billed for a performance at the BRIT & BET AWARD ceremonies.
3. Madison Square Garden
Burna Boy’s Madison Square Garden event was very unprecedented in the history of Afrobeats. Popularly credited as one of the rarest performers ever produced by the now global genre.
Burna boy has proven with his sold-out Madison Square Garden event that he’s currently the biggest artist in Afrobeats.
As much as the other two heavyweight African artists have chosen to turn the 02 into a second home by shutting it down with their events over the years, it is safe to say that none of them has made this much impact in North America.
4. Endless Global Collaborations
If there’s any Nigerian artist who’s contributed to more foreign projects than anyone, then it’s definitely Burna Boy who’s been credited on a lot of projects outside Afrobeats at a time when he wasn’t even getting the needed attention locally.
However, since his Outside Album dropped in 2018, the wheels have since turned around in his favour. Even before he became a certified headliner act, Burna Boy had already received credits for some appearances on some of the biggest album projects globally at the time.
5. Global Festival Tours
There is only one act in Africa big enough to organize his own festivals all over the world. From Africa to Europe to North America, Burna Boy has consistently given his ever-growing fan base a top tier performance at his super packed festival experiences, crowning it all with the highly coveted Madison Square Garden performance.
Only one Afrobeats superstar has gone on to far away Netherlands, organized their own festival and sell out a whole-ass arena in deep Europe, moving on to Amsterdam to repeat the same feat, before returning to Ireland, and then selling out arenas all over America.
Burna Boy is clearly on a space drift, planets ahead of everyone else in the game right now.
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