Burna Boy’s I Told Them: Unoriginal thesis on popstar’s ego

The collection, his fifth in six years and serving as a popstar’s diary, has dropped with the kind of dispatch demanded by the current fast-paced streaming frenzy. A fusion-based output, it revolves around a customary maze of samples and cinema, overused vocal patterns, a delusional temperament, bumper hawkishness and objectively disappointing cockiness (a Grammy accolade and repeatedly selling out stadiums would do that to him).

Last year’s Love, Damini was confused. At least, this new LP rectifies it by opting for a shorter runtime and centring its concept around appropriating the boom bap traditions of hip hop, which turns 50 this year.

The nub of the submission is this: Burna Boy is intoxicated by the attention and validation of the West (America, to be specific), his vital demographic, for creative direction. This new project was heavily guided by the influence of veteran hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. The biggest guests are US rappers 21 Savage and J.Cole.

Despite preaching pan-Africanism while claiming to “feel somewhat responsible for Africa’s newly introduced dedicated Grammy category” in a recent Los Angeles Times interview, Burna Boy also plays Afrobeats provocateur, as seen in an Apple Music interview heralding I Told Them, attempting to spark a moral crisis within the genre with vexatious comments bashing hollow penmanship and foisting a purposeful standard for lyricism, never mind that he has habitually reaped the benefits of the genre and is often guilty of shallow writing himself.

The new collection adopts the tone seeking to appear profound, rather than expressing genuinely original profound insights, so that, the most memorable lines from the album come down to bragging about dropping out of school on the first day on ‘Dey Play’, beckoning a sexual interest to “Jump up on my body like animal” on ‘Tested, Approved and Trusted’, or crass objectification in “girls dem dey pack like sardine’ on ‘Normal’, or mixing his drinks with party drugs on ‘Big 7’. Yep, this is what we get: excusing silly behaviour as a by-product of being a popstar.

But Burna Boy has never been Afrobeats’ most prolific lyricist – he has been its prominent spokesperson due to flashes of quasi-activism (which now seems more like a strategic marketing tool to establish his international presence). That’s not the same thing. In this regard, Afrobeats (not Afrobeat – Fela Kuti’s fearless singular invention) has always scraped the bottom of the barrel. Indeed, the most impactful quotes from Burna Boy have come from his mother, whose acceptance speeches on the singer’s behalf have made their way onto his albums more than once.

Fela, famed for grassroots advocacy in his work, must be turning in his grave at Burna Boy’s total departure from that stencil, especially seeing how frequently he has claimed a connection to Fela merely based on his grandfather’s role as a manager for the Afrobeat iconoclast.

By the way, isn’t it interesting that while many are looking towards Afrobeats (see Bob Marley), Burna Boy is seeking to leave it up in flames?

The standout songs on the album are also those that resonate with his Nigerian heritage (‘On Form’), explore acoustic strings, dig into his Caribbean trove (‘Talibans II’ featuring Jamaican singer Byron Messia), or turn to verified local street templates (‘City Boy’, ‘Normal’, ‘Giza’ ft. Seyi Vibez).

The J. Cole-assisted ‘Thanks’, the album’s most important collaboration and likely its most dashing composition thanks to fine highlife underpinnings with sweet guitar and subtle percussion, conveys that he is benefiting all of us through his success, emphasised by the rhetorical question: “Is this the motherf#%&!ng thanks I get?” On the same song, where he threatens “sneaking up on you on a silent one”, he fails to explicitly refute one of the most damning allegations levelled against him in recent years – the June 2022 news reports that claim his aides shot at club partygoers in Lagos after a woman in the group declined to interact with him.

I started this piece with the hypothesis that the new album boasts two truths and a lie. Maybe all three opening statements hold true. Still, admittedly, in its own way, this album forges new territory for African acts looking to become global names. Burna Boy has shown leadership in Afrobeats, so there must be a method to his madness.

Artist: Burna Boy
Album: I Told Them
Label: Spaceship/Atlantic
Year: 2023