Burna Boy earns BRIT Billion Award

Presented at his sold-out London Stadium show on Saturday night, the award marks him as the second African recipient after fellow Grammy winner Wizkid, following his achievement last September as the first Afrobeats artist to secure a UK No 1 chart position with his album I Told Them.

The BRIT Billion Award, launched in May 2023 by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), acknowledges the impact of streaming, which now accounts for over 85% of music consumption in the UK. Last year saw a record-breaking 160 billion audio streams in the country.

“For a recording artist, there can be few greater sources of pride than having a Platinum or Gold disc on their wall, but in an era when success is measured in the hundreds of millions and indeed billions of streams, it was clear that we needed a new and additional way to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievement in recorded music, and I feel certain that having a BRIT Billion Award will become equally prized,” BPI chief strategy officer and interim chief executive Sophie Jones said at the time of launch.

The London Stadium show marked Burna Boy’s second time filling the venue, his first being in June 2023. On Sunday, Burna Boy also played on the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury festival.

In her tribute to Burna Boy after he was named among TIME’s most influential people of 2024 in April, Beninese legend Angélique Kidjo said: “Burna Boy has made that vision a global reality. Inspired by the fantastic drums of Nigerian folk music, and studied in the craft of the great African singer-songwriters, he follows in the footsteps of Fela Kuti  –  the internationally celebrated Afrobeat artist and activist.

“Burna Boy’s deeply original flow and his signature groove have conquered the world with an impressive series of firsts. In 2023, he became the first African artist to sell out a US stadium, and in 2024, he became the first Afrobeats artist to sing at the Grammys. He is history in the making. Now a whole generation of young people from the continent is looking up to him.”

Burna Boy faced disappointment at the recently concluded BET Awards, where he was nominated for two categories but did not win. The awards saw other African artists Tyla, Tems and Makhadzi securing trophies.

Meanwhile, two days after its release, Burna Boy’s new single ‘Higher’ has surpassed 2 million streams on Spotify, while its attendant music video has been watched more than a million times on YouTube.