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Grammy award winner, Burna Boy, has apologized for comments he made distancing himself from the Afrobeats genre, a style he helped popularize globally.
In a 2023 Apple Music interview, Burna Boy controversially said Afrobeats “lacks substance” and that many artistes in the genre have “almost no real-life experiences,” sparking significant backlash.
Speaking recently to 1Xtra’s Eddie Kadi, Burna Boy acknowledged the reaction to his remarks made him realize the importance of having an umbrella term to unify and advance the Afrobeats movement.
The artiste, whose real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, made history in 2023 as the first African artiste to headline a stadium show in the UK.
By then, he had already won a Grammy and dominated the Official UK Afrobeats chart.
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Burna Boy admitted he was “in a dark place mentally” when he made the earlier comments and said the division his words caused helped him “come to terms” with his opinion.
“I got the point of the Afrobeats tag in that moment. I totally get it and I apologize for that confusion,” he said.
He expressed comfort with embracing the Afrobeats label, which features prominently on his latest album, No Sign of Weakness, released last week.
Burna Boy, who has nearly 24 million monthly listeners on Spotify, performed at the Wireless Festival in London on Sunday.
He has also just begun his European and North American tour, scheduled to conclude at the end of the year.
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