Popular Afrobeats singer, Burna Boy, born Damini Ogulu has revealed that he derived the inspiration for his forthcoming seventh studio album from Twitter.
The Grammy-winning singer said he took a trip down memory lane on his official Twitter account and realised that he had previously tweeted into existence, all he is achieving now, hence, who he chose title the project ‘I Told Them’.
Burna Boy opened up about the process of making his album in an interview with American media outlet, Complexan art.
He said; “Them’ in my album title, is anyone that ever didn’t believe [in me] at any point in time. The way the name of this album came up is because one random day, I just went on my Twitter [page], and I started scrolling down to my old tweets. I wanted to see what the first tweet I ever tweeted was, for some strange reason.
“And then it just sent me down this rabbit hole, where I’m just looking at everything I ever said. I’m like, wow! It’s crazy. I really did say all these sh*ts that is happening now. And that kind of made me to name my album, ‘I Told Them’.“
The album is set to be released on Friday, August 25, 2023. The self-proclaimed African Giant also revealed that the project will have a sequel that would be released later.
In other entertainment news…
Budding Nigerian alternative singer, BOJ, has asserted that young Afrobeats stars, Rema and Fireboy are heavily inspired by alté.
BOJ, whose real name is Bolaji Odojukan, is one-third of the musical group, DRB LasGidi with TeeZee and Fresh L.
Speaking in an interview with The Beat 99.9 FM, Lagos, he opined that both artistes derived the inspiration for their dress sense and mannerisms from the alté community.
Alté is a fusion genre of music that combines elements of afrobeats, dancehall, reggae, hip hop, and alternative R&B. It means alternative and individualistic and non-traditional modes of self-expression through music and fashion.
BOJ said; “Santi has always been there from the get-go. Santi, LOS and us [DRB LasGidi] but Santi’s name was Oxy B back then. So, I would say we are the ones who pioneered alté.
“And what is happening now was always bound to happen. We were the cool guys and there were a lot of young kids that gauged us and were like, ‘Okay, we want to emulate these stuff.’ Even if it wasn’t that we are doing exactly what they are doing, we are letting guys know that you could do things differently in whatever field you are in.
“Everybody in the alté makes different types of music. So, the music wasn’t actually called alté. It is everything else around it. I would say that the fashion is one of the things that translated the most into the mainstream in terms of the aesthetic of the mainstream. I feel a lot of the mainstream new cats are actually alté guys. I would say Rema is an alté guy, I would say Fireboy is. If you gauge the way they dress, the swag, the way they move [it’s all alté].”
