Burna Boy

Burna Boy is the stage name of Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer born on July 2, 1991. He rose to fame in 2012 with the release of his debut studio album L.I.F.E, which featured the hit single “Like to Party”. Burna Boy is known for popularizing Afrobeats and Afrofusion globally, and is often credited alongside Wizkid for this achievement.

In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Atlantic Records in the United States and its parent company Warner Music Group internationally, to release his third studio album, Outside, in 2018. The album was followed by African Giant, his fourth studio album, which was released in 2019. African Giant won Album of the Year at the All Africa Music Awards and was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. In August 2020, Burna Boy released his fifth studio album, Twice as Tall, which won Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Burna Boy released his sixth studio album, Love, Damini, in 2022, which became the highest debut of an African album on the Billboard 200 chart. It also became the highest-charting African album in France, the Netherlands and the UK. In October of the same year, Burna Boy was awarded the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic plaque for his achievements in music. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him number 197 on its list of the 200 greatest singers of all time.

Burna Boy’s upbringing was rooted in music as his maternal grandfather, Benson Idonije, once managed Fela Kuti, and his mother, Bose Ogulu, later became his manager. Burna Boy grew up in Southern Nigeria and attended Corona Secondary School in Agbara, Ogun State. He later relocated to London, England, to pursue further studies in media technology at the University of Sussex and media communications and culture at Oxford Brookes University. Upon returning to Nigeria, Burna Boy launched his music career after a year-long internship at Rhythm 93.7 FM in Port Harcourt and has since become one of the most successful African artists of his generation.