Burna Boy apologises for saying Afrobeats lacks substance

Nigerian singer, Burna Boy, has apologised for downgrading Afrobeats and distancing himself from the genre.

Media Talk Africa recalls that Burna Boy sparked controversy in 2023 after saying Afrobeats has no lyrical substance and disassociated himself from the genre.

In a recent interview with BBC’s Eddie Kadi, Burna Boy explained that he didn’t realise back then that African artists need Afrobeats as an umbrella genre to thrive.

He explained that he chose to call his style Afrofusion because he didn’t think he could fit in into Afrobeats category in the early days of his career.

The ‘Last Last’ crooner stated that he has now realised that African artists have to be united and not divided along genres, to push the continent’s music forward.

He apologised for his controversial remark, claiming he was in a “dark place mentally” when he made the statement.

He said, “I didn’t understand why people wanted my music to be inside one box. The way I saw it, if you just put everything into Afrobeats, you’re now comparing Socrates to Kendrick Lamar because they both said two things that rhyme so they both must be rappers…

“I didn’t realise we needed Afrobeats tag as an umbrella to go to anywhere. I totally get it now and I apologise for that confusion.”