This is a case study of the “African Giant” also known as Burna boy.
Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu is a Nigerian artist who goes by the stage name Burna Boy. Lately, he has been the subject of widespread criticism because of his chastisement of anything Nigerian.
During the #EndSARS protest which begun on 20 November 2021, Burna Boy was eerily silent. While other celebrities like Falz, Davido and Banky W came out en masse to protest against police brutality, Burna Boy maintained his silence. Until he was called out on Twitter, where he responded by revealing a billboard advertisement supporting the movement, which he had sponsored.
Recently, Burna Boy has been called out for refusing to participate in the ongoing elections. He has not even done so much as post anything about the elections on his social media pages.
When he was attacked on social media, he responded saying, “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to some Nigerians that I’ve not been vocal about the elections,” he wrote on his Instagram stories. “Personally I don’t have a candidate that I believe in. I’ve never supported any political party or candidate in my life because I don’t want to make you vote and then blame me when the person f**ks up as usual. That being said, I hope all votes count and the best man wins.”
Read also: Election: I’ve never benefited from Nigerian govt, says Burna Boy
If he had stopped there, that would have been better. But he goes on to provoke Nigerians, asking them to “getat.”
Why is so much placed on the self-proclaimed African Giant’s shoulders, you ask?
His song, Collateral damage, is a commentary on how the ruling class are our puppet master. In Monsters You Made, the song speaks on the aftermath of colonization, racism, and resistance. There are so many more examples when one closely samples his music. You cannot sing one thing and expect people to hold you up to another.
Burna Boy is also notorious for coming late to his concerts that hold in Nigeria. In January, he arrived at 4am to a concert supposed to start at 9pm. When he eventually arrived, he was heard calling out his fans, ““Just to show you say I still love una. If not for Seyi Vibez, I for don dey go house,” he said.
“But I dey here for una, after una don talk say I kill person for Cubana, after una talk say my mama dance for Fela, after una don talk say…no wahala, I still love you, na why I still dey here, if you like no love me, na God go punish you.”
It has become natural that whenever an event happens in which fellow country people lament and condemn, Burna Boy conveniently waits to be called out online to react. Almost like he gets a high whenever given the opportunity to trend.
Nigerians do nothing but sing his praises but in the end, he treats them like the very politicians he appears to hold in contempt.
It is then safe to say he deserves all the vitriol thrown at him. Because it is self-imposed. I promise, treat him the way he keeps treating you and see.
He is everything but, an “African Giant.” There is a Hausa saying that goes, “Whoever says he is, is not.”
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