Media personality Lerin Nicodemus has branded Grammy-winning artist Burna Boy as the most significant sham and the least inspiring musician in light of his contentious remarks about Afrobeats. The TV host strongly condemned Burna Boy’s assertion about Africa’s illustrious music genre, which has garnered global acclaim but is perceived by him as lacking depth.
Nicodemus vehemently criticized Burna Boy for attempting to sully and undermine the very foundation that propelled him to international stardom. She contended that the ‘Love Damini’ crooner had attempted to incorporate the legacy of the iconic Fela Anikulapo Kuti, renowned for his pan-Africanism, into his artistic expression.
However, Nicodemus argued that, unlike Fela, Burna often sidesteps addressing the predicaments affecting his compatriots and the continent. Instead, she noted, he seems to criticize his own people whenever he chooses to voice his opinions.
She said: “I said Burna Boy is the biggest fraud and most uninspiring artiste in Nigeria and this is why. She follows up with an excerpt of Burna Boy’s controversial interview where he noted: “Afobeats as most people call it is mostly about nothing, literally nothing. There’s no substance to it. Like nobody is talking about anything. It’s just a great time.”
“Burna Boy’s brand is built on this pan-African activism ideology which he basically copied from Fela. But whenever there’s social or political turmoil in Nigeria or Africa, he either stays very quiet or mocks Nigerians when he eventually speaks up.
“His statements about social issues lack any real progressiveness or empathy. All he does is belittle people at every opportunity and now, he’s doing it to Afrobeats.
“Like how do you shit on a movement that has taken years to build by our pioneers? Tons of people worked really hard to make sure that Afrobeats got the global recognition and respect it has now which he has greatly benefitted from by the way. And now it’s his turn to push it even further. And here he is tearing it down. If that’s not witchcraft, I don’t know what is.
Comparing Burna to his colleagues, she added: “Other artists like Wizkid and David try to shine a light on upcoming artistes at every given opportunity whether it’s putting them on an album or inviting them on global stages.
“But that can never be Burna Boy. He would rather just shit on people because that’s what he’s good at and it’s so uninspiring.”