Nobody wants to imagine an industry without Burna Boy at the top. Not you, not me, and I’m sure, he shares the same opinion.
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There is a problem with Burna Boy’s music and it’s starting to show.
Many of you might not understand or see it, but the singer is losing his impact fast. Burna Boy is a pop artist, who has enjoyed success as a chart-topper who provides special music drawn from his peculiar fusion of Afrobeat and dancehall that everyone describes as ‘different’.
Under the right guidance, the man has moved his career forward by making breath-taking records, which has seen his star rise, and increased his profile to the part where he is recognized in various markets. But with his exit from Aristokrat Records, Burna Boy lost his partnership with producer LeriQ, who has been the man with the sole ability to drag Burna Boy across his best beats, to create impactful records. See the result on his debut project – “L.I.F.E.”
That lost partnership affected Burna Boy in more ways than he could imagine. Without the skill and chemistry with LeriQ, he began to experiment with more producers, who have failed to properly bring out the beast in him. The pop records dried up, and Burna Boy began to subsist on the work he has done. People listen to Burna Boy because he is Burna Boy. They don’t listen to him because he makes the best music. The best music of his career is behind him, that’s why his sophomore album, “On A Spaceship,” was a critical mess.
His 2016 EP, “Redemption”, failed to bang either. Without anyone to rein in his genius-level talent, he is lost in his head and fast lifestyle, creating records that impress his deep mind and that of his colleagues and everyone present in the studio. None of it was created for his numerous fans, who want more than he is offering.
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Burna Boy ''Outside'' tour performance highlights
(Buki HQ Media)
In the life of an artist, influences and creativity are constantly changing and morphing into new forms. It is good for this to happen, as it boosts the overall artistry of the artist as they switch up to hit new levels of artistry. But for Burna Boy, it is negative so far on his personal records.
New singles ‘Halleluyah’ and ‘Boshe Nlo’ are not pulling in the numbers. On Youtube, their official videos are not hitting past 250k views. In fact, the last time Burna Boy has cross the crossed 500k views, was a year ago with the single ‘Rizzla’, which is still sitting poorly with 800k. ‘Duro ni be’ has 250k, ‘Realest’ has 208k, ‘Pree me’ is poor with 75k. These are horrible numbers for an artist with the skill level and fan base of Burna Boy.
Outside the country, his numbers on Spotify are abysmal too. Nothing to see here.
What is keeping Burna Boy is the emotional impact he has had with his debut album, and the records before that. Burna Boy has connected deeply to fans, and no matter how much he fails to excite with recent releases, his shows are still packed for now.
Burna Boy deserves more. And he could get more. The love from his fans is enduring. He possesses a brand that exacts a strong pull on followers. All he needs are records to feed the crowd. And let’s cut through the hype, he has been artistically poor in recent times.
He has to understand this, take a long hard look at his business and creativity, and begin work on getting back to base. He is losing his grip on the industry and pop music. It’s slowly happening now. But it is bound to pick up steam, and cut him loose from us all.
Nobody wants to imagine an industry without Burna Boy at the top. Not you, not me, and I’m sure, he shares the same opinion. Or does he?
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