Burna Boy has just set another new record at the Grammys.
After setting the new record for First Solo win by a Nigerian artist at the Grammys, Burna Boy has set another record
About Burna Boy’s Grammy record-setting Nominations
When Burna Boy was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2020, Nigerians were genuinely happy, seeing that very few of our artists then were getting noticed by the academy, and there was a stereotypical standard attached to the nomination for African artists
When he won in 2021 for his Album , “Twice as Tall”, it made everything even better, and he sealed his status as a Global superstar. After his nominations for the album “Love, Damini“, Burna Boy tied Femi Kuti as the Nigerian Artist with the most Grammy Nominations. They both had six nominations at that time.
However, officially, with 4 more Grammy nominations in the 2024 Grammys, Burna Boy is now the Nigerian Artist with the most Grammy Nominations, making his total number of nominations ten (10).
He was nominated for “Alone” from Black Panther, His 2023 album “I Told Them“, and 2 other nominations for his hit song “City Boys”
Here is the complete list of Burna Boy’s Grammy Nominations:
- Best World Music Album: African Giant (2020)
- Best World Music Album: Twice as Tall (2021)
- Best Global Music Performance: Last Last (2022)
- Best Global Music Album: Love, Damini (2023)
- Best Global Music Performance: Do Yourself (2022)
- Album of the Year: For Justin Bieber’s Justice as Featured Artist (2022)
- Best Melodic Rap Performance: Sittin’ on top of the world (2024)
- Best Global Music Album: I Told Them (2024)
- Best African Music Performance: City Boys (2024)
- Best Global Music Performance: Alone (2024
Hence, with 10 Grammy Nominations, Burna Boy officially becomes the most Grammy- nominated Nigerian artist
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Profile
With his fusion of dancehall, reggae, Afrobeat, and pop, Burna Boy emerged in the early part of the 2010s as one of Nigeria’s fastest-rising stars.
The LeriQ-produced 2012 single “Like to Party” proved to be his breakout track and paved the way for his full-length debut, L.I.F.E, a year later. Over the next five years, Burna released two more albums and collaborated with a variety of artists, from J Hus and Skales to Fall Out Boy and Lilly Allen.
His international exposure widened with 2018’s Outside, which hit number three on the Billboard Reggae chart and won the Nigeria Entertainment Award for Album of the Year. 2019’s African Giant and 2020’s Twice as Tall were both widely acclaimed and charted in several countries.
After becoming the first Nigerian to headline a show at Madison Square Garden, he released his sixth album, Love, Damini, in 2022. Burna Boy was born Damini Ogulu in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, in 1991. He began making music at just ten years old when a fellow classmate at school gave him a copy of the production software FruityLoops.
Armed with these means, he began to create his own beats on an old computer. After he graduated, he moved to London to attend university, but he dropped out after two years and moved back to Nigeria. In 2010, the 19-year-old Ogulu traveled to Nigeria’s southern coast, where a mutual acquaintance, producer LeriQ, had some studio space.
This marked a period when he began to connect to the music of his native country, having spent most of his youth immersed in American acts like DMX. He delved into the dancehall and reggae music his father listened to and explored the Afro-beat music preferred by his grandfather (who had also been Fela Kuti’s first manager).
As a result of his new discoveries, Ogulu created a confluence of genres that would become his signature sound. With production by LeriQ, Burna Boy created “Like to Party,” which marked his rise to prominence and generated a local buzz along the way. 2013 saw the release of his debut studio album; featuring guest slots from Wizkid, Timaya, 2face, and M.I., L.I.F.E drew favorable reviews from the music press.
For his sophomore effort, 2015’s On a Spaceship, Burna parted ways with both his record company and LeriQ, and delivered a record even more diverse than his first. In 2017, he teamed up with producer Juls for the single “Rock Your Body.” A host of singles followed throughout the year, including “GBA,” “Streets of Africa,” “Koni Baje,” and “Sekkle Down,” featuring J Hus.
After releasing the Lily Allen-aided single “Heaven’s Gate” in early January 2018, Burna delivered his third album, Outside, later that moHe returned a year later with the single “Killin Dem,” a collaboration with Zlatan.
Along with additional singles like “Dangote” and “On the Low,” it was later included on his fourth album, African Giant, which saw release in July 2019. The LP was nominated in the Best World Music Album category of the 62nd Grammy Awards.
In August 2020, Burna issued the full-length Twice as Tall, which became his highest charting album to date, reaching number 54 on the Billboard 200 and faring even better in Europe and Canada.
It went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album. Featured on the album were guest appearances by Youssou N’Dour, Naughty by Nature, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and others.
“Rotate,” a collaboration with Becky G, arrived in 2021, as did the solo single “Kilometre.” Burna performed a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden in April 2022, becoming the first Nigerian artist to headline a show at the famed New York venue.
Led by the Toni Braxton-sampling hit “Last Last,” his sixth album, Love, Damini, was released on July 2, his 31st birthday
Credits: Bekki Bemrose, Rovi.
