Burna Boy Making Waves with ‘Love, Damini’

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

Sound of pseudo gunshot twice. Not the kind heard at a recent nightclub shooting which is still being investigated. But one that greeted his entry on stage at a recent concert where he performed to a sold-out crowd. It sure amplified that moment as fans got ecstatic. The set that followed next and the reception was good to write home about as always. After all, it’s Burna Boy.  

The Grammy-winning artiste is set to perform again this July during a summer tour dubbed “Love, Damini.” His performance has been the talk of social media, with a number of his fans singing his praises from Norway to Portugal to Wembley where the megastar performed a single ‘For My Hand’ featuring Ed Sheeran at Ed Sheeran’s Wembley Stadium show last Weekend.

The single is off Burna Boy’s latest studio album ‘Love, Damini’, which he dropped on July 8 via Atlantic Records. The singer had told Billboard the title of the Long Play (LP) is particularly personal to him. It bears his name Damini. Featuring a number of guest appearances from Ed Sheeran, Popcaan, Victony, J Balvin, Blxst, J Hus, Kehlani, Ladysmith, and Black Mambazo.

‘Love, Damini’ is Burna Boy’s 6th album after his debut album ‘L.I.F.E’, ‘On a Spaceship’, ‘Outside’, ‘African Giant’, and ‘Twice as Tall’. On Love, Damini, Burna Boy has already officially released two songs from the album – ‘Kilometre’ and ‘Last Last’ with the latter enjoying impressive level of success. The Afro-fusion artist also shared a music video for the single, which he self-directed.

The vibe-y, mid-tempo song finds him reflecting on past relationships before ultimately concluding everything will be okay which many of his fans believe spoke about the relationship he had with Stefflon Don and how they eventually broke up. Don, in the same vein, released a new single she calls ‘First of All’ which is believed her reply to Burna’s.

The track, produced by Chopstix, features sample of American singer Toni Braxton’s 2000 R&B hit, “He Wasn’t Man Enough.”  Off the heels of the success of the perceived break-up song, Burna has shared new details about the hit single which has got everyone talking. In a recent interview, the Nigerian star spoke on sampling Braxton’s song.

He went ahead to speak on how sampling the song was his idea and how it was something he really wanted to do. Not stopping there, Burna also added that it was a special creative process for him getting the producer, Chopstix to actualise it. However, fans became more interested when the Nigerian star spoke on how much royalties Braxton was making from Last Last.

According to Burna, the American singer makes 60% from the earnings of ‘Last Last’. This caused quite a stir on social media with many people expressing their shock, wondering how much he makes from the song after his record label, Atlantic Records, had taken their official cut. However, Burna Boy noted that he wasn’t complaining.

While he is a successful digital artiste, his live shows accounts for a huge part of his earning. And with a catalogue and statesmanship that has helped him to sell out arenas across Europe, Burna Boy wouldn’t mind giving up a good part of his streaming pay if it means making great singles.