Afrobeats, Numerology, 7th Album, J. Cole — Takeaways from Burna Boy’s Interview on Apple Music

Nigerian singer and songwriter Burna Boy linked up with Zane Lowe at Rock And Soul NYC to buy some vinyl, reflect on his journey so far and the release of his seventh album, ‘I Told Them…’ a decade after his first release.

Burna talks about the importance of numerology on his upcoming album, the “12 jewels” to a happy life, his experiences collaborating with and being influenced by other artists like J. Cole, RZA, and other exciting artists.

They also talk about where Burna Boy is now ahead of his new project’s release this Friday.

See excerpts below:

On the meaning of the album title:

They say a lot of times that prophets is not really recognizing its own home and shit. So this one is for the part of my own home and the people in my own home who didn’t believe or doubt it, or still doubt, or any type of thing. And not just them, it’s like everyone that ever heard me speak in the past or when I’d first started. You can go back to my old tweets and stuff. I basically predicted everything that’s happening now. So this is basically that. It’s fun to tell people something is true, and they doubt, and then they end up seeing it. There’s no greater feeling.

On the type of credit he wants:

I’m not going to say I don’t want credit because everyone wants credit for what they do and shit. For me it’s more like I want credit from places where it actually matters. Even though in reality don’t mean nothing but places where you can say why, you can explain and it makes sense to everybody. That’s the type of shit I want. I want to go somewhere where it’s like they see the work and they see everything, the journey and everything, and they’re like, “This is amazing. Yeah, congratulations.” That’s the type of shit that means something. You don’t get that in my country. It means something to the people who are not part of the game in a way. It means something to people who have nothing to gain or lose and no stakes in the matter.

On being proud of his accomplishments:

That’s the thing I’ve beat my chest the most about. It’s the fact that, yeah, not only did I do it on my own terms and all that, I did it against all odds. You know what I mean? And against the wishes of the powers that be in my environment. You know what I mean? So yeah, it’s something I’m really proud of.

Burna Boy on Fela Kuti

I am grateful for the fact that he existed in his time so that we could get and experience the true organic nature of what he was and the essence of what he stood for and the message he passed across to us.

On the benefits of traveling the world

Man, the more I see the world and the more I experience just makes me understand myself a bit more, understand why things are the way they are a bit more. I just have a lot of answers to a lot of questions I used to have and previously didn’t have answers for.

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