By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
Nigeria’s sensational Afrobeats Grammy award winner, Burna Boy, has said that the modern African music is changing the perception of the continent as part of a global cultural shift that marks a “big moment”.
The musician disclosed this after winning his first Grammy award.
Burna Boy was awarded a Grammy for the Best Global Music Album this month for ‘Twice As Tall’ which was released last year.
He is part of a generation of Nigerian music artists, which include Wizkid and Davido, that have enjoyed global success in recent years as proponents of the Afrobeats sound. The African genre is now almost as likely to be heard in London or Los Angeles as it is in Lagos, Reuters reported.
“It’s a big moment and a big time for African music and Africans in general,” said Burna Boy.
The artist, whose real name is Damini Ogulu, said that his award was part of a “domino effect” that gives Africans more control over the way they are perceived through technology, as streaming services take the continent’s arts to a global audience.
“I didn’t even want to be African when I was little,” he said.
“I wanted to be anything but who I was, because who we are wasn’t really the cool thing to be,” said the artist, who grew up in southern Nigeria and moved to London as a child before returning to the West African country.
He said that his win showed that African music was attracting worldwide respect.
Reclining in a chair in his home studio, Burna Boy reflected on his success.
“You can’t mention the top five musicians in the world without throwing me or an African in there,” he said, smiling. “Now we’re eye to eye with the people we used to look up to.”
