The Arrival of Burna Boy

Revisiting Burna Boy’s first album for this 10-year review transported me to a simpler time—when Burna Boy was not such a controversial figure and Afrobeats albums were commonly bought in traffic (not streamed on Apple music or Spotify). It took me back to the era when Afrobeats was gearing up for the huge momentum and the widespread success it is currently benefitting from in today’s music climate. Re-visiting Burna Boy’s L.I.F.E—ten years later—is a nostalgic experience.

L.I.F.E is one of Burna Boy’s most versatile albums, as he delivered a range of musical styles through 19 songs. The three lead singles ‘Like to Party’, ‘Tonight’, and ‘Yawa Dey’, are timeless records—the lyrics to these songs are still ingrained in my mind—years after L.I.F.E’s official release. In addition, each song showcased Burna Boy’s musical range. On ‘Like to Party’, Burna Boy delivered a distinctly unique record which infused his signature and seamless blend of Jamaican slang and pidgin English, an interpolation of a common nursey rhyme (‘rain, rain go away’), and R & B inspired melodies on the verses. ‘Tonight’, was slightly more up-tempo than ‘Like to Party’ and further confirmed Burna Boy’s talent for delivering memorable lyrics and enjoyable melodies. On ‘Yawa Dey’, Burna Boy was directly inspired by the Galala music, pioneered by artists such as Daddy Showkey and Danfo Drivers. This highlighted Burna Boy’s interest in experimenting with different sub-cultures and genres of Nigerian music, asides from Afrobeats.

The songs on L.I.F.E were different and ahead of their time, particularly when these songs are examined within the landscape of 2013 Afrobeats music. In addition to the lead singles on the album, songs such as ‘Smooth Sailing’, ‘Na So E Suppose Be’, ‘Run My Race’, and ‘My Loda Ma Motto’ sounded like nothing else that was playing on mainstream radio in Nigeria at the time. In 2013, the country found itself in an ‘Afrobeats dance challenge’ frenzy, with Wizkid’s ‘Azonto’, Kcee’s ‘Limpopo’ and Iyanya’s ‘Kukere’, being notable and very popular Afrobeats songs that year. It would have made perfect sense for Burna Boy to follow this formula and include a Galala dance challenge that would have paired well with ‘Yawa Dey’. However, he exposed his audience to different musical styles and forms of dance music, which set him apart from popular Afrobeats artist at the time. This was evident through the song titled ‘Always Love You’—which incorporated electronic dance music elements—and the third song on the album, ‘Say So’. On the two-minute mark of ‘Say So’, Burna Boy discarded his distinct vocals to deliver a Fújì-inspired section. Songs like ‘Always Love You’ and ‘Say So’ were bold musical choices for a new Nigerian artist showcasing a debut album in 2013.