Burna Boy’s Biography

9 July 2023, 12:45 am

59 4 minutes read

Profile of Burna Boy

Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, known professionally as Burna Boy, a Nigerian performer, songwriter, and record producer was born on 2 July 1991 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. His mother, Bose Ogulu, was a translator, while his father, Samuel, managed a welding business. Benson Idonije, his maternal grandfather, once managed Fela Kuti.

His mother eventually became his manager.Ogulu grew up in southern Nigeria and began using FL Studio to create his own rhythms. He attended Corona Secondary School in Agbara, Ogun State before moving to London, England to continue his education.

From 2008 to 2009, he studied media technology at the University of Sussex, and from 2009 to 2010, he studied media communications and culture at Oxford Brookes University. Burna Boy returned to Port Harcourt and began an internship at Rhythm 93.7 FM for one year. After returning to Lagos, he initiated his music career.

Music Career

After releasing “Like to Party” in 2012, the lead single from his debut studio album “L.I.F.E,” he rose to fame in 2012.

“L.I.F.E,” Burna Boy’s debut studio album, was released under Aristokrat record label on August 12, 2013, as the follow-up to his 2011 mixtape “Burn Identity.” The album sold forty thousand copies on its first day of release.

Later, Aristokrat Records sold its marketing rights to Uba Pacific for 10,000,000. Five singles preceded the album’s release: “Like to Party”, “Tonight”, “Always Love You”, “Run My Race”, and “Yawa Dey”. L.I.F.E was entirely produced by Leriq and featured guest appearances by, among others, 2face Idibia, M.I. Abaga, Timaya, Olamide, Reminisce, and Wizkid.

Genre
Afro Pop/Afrobeats

Location
Nigeria

Socials

Burna Boy left Aristokrat Records in 2014. He founded the record label Spaceship Entertainment in February 2015, eight months after departing Aristocrat Records. On November 25, 2015, Burna Boy’s second studio album, “On a Spaceship,” was released. “Redemption,” his 7-track debut EP, was released in September 2016.

In January 26, 2018, he released his third studio album, “Outside.” It features guest appearances by J Hus, Lily Allen, and Mabel, all of whom are English musicians. Outside featured six singles: “Rock Your Body”, “Streets of Africa”, “Koni Baje”, “Sekkle Down”, “Heaven’s Gate”, and “Ye”.

Burna Boy was announced alongside Mr. Eazi as a performer at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on January 3, 2019.

At the Soundcity MVP Awards Festival 2019, he won four trophies, including African Artiste of the Year, Listener’s Choice, and Outstanding Male MVP. Burna Boy and the Los Angeles-based electronic duo DJDS published a four-track EP titled Steel & Copper on March 21, 2019.

Burna Boy earned Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards on June 24. He was announced as an Apple Music Up Next artist in July of 2019.

He recorded “Ja Ara E” (Yoruba for “wise up” or “use your head”) for Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift and was the only guest artist to have their own track on the soundtrack album.

“African Giant,” the fourth studio album by Burna Boy, was published on July 26, 2019. It was supported by six singles: “Gbona”, “On the Low”, “Killin Dem”, “Dangote”, “Anyone”, and “Pull Up.” The album, which he began recording in 2018, is his most personal work to date, he told Billboard.

Burna Boy was featured alongside English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran on British rapper Stormzy’s single “Own It” on November 22, 2019.

In November of 2019, he became the first Afrobeats artist to sell out the SSE Arena, for which he was awarded a commemorative plaque.

“Twice as Tall,” his fifth studio album, was released on August 14, 2020. It was produced by Diddy and his mother, Bose Ogulu, as executive producers.

It debuted at number one on the Billboard World Albums Chart, becoming his highest-charting release. Twice as Tall was nominated for Best International Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on November 24, 2020. It was the second year in a row that Burna Boy was nominated for this award.

On March 15, 2021, at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, he was awarded the Grammy for Best Global Music Album. He won the award for Best International Act at the 2021 BET Awards, making him the first African artist to win it three times in a row.

On July 8, 2022, Burna Boy released his sixth studio album, “Love, Damini.” It was succeeded by “Kilometre” and “Last Last” as singles. ‘Love Damini’ debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart which is strictly for album sales after selling over 25,000 copies, this would be the highest charting Nigeria album of all time in the US.

The album “Love Damini” was a pivotal moment in Burna Boy’s career, catapulting him to new heights of global recognition and establishing him as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. The album was built upon the solid foundation of his “African Giant” and “Twice As Tall” albums. In its first year, it earned an impressive 2.9 billion streams across all music streaming platforms.