Burna Boy apologises for past Afrobeats criticism, saying he now understands the need for unity among African artists under the Afrobeats umbrella genre

Nigerian superstar Burna Boy has publicly apologised for his previous remarks criticising Afrobeats and distancing himself from the genre.

Also read: Burna Boy Issues Cryptocurrency Warning over Fake Meme Coin

In 2023, the Grammy winner sparked backlash after claiming that Afrobeats lacked lyrical substance and asserting that he did not belong to the genre. However, in a recent BBC interview with Eddie Kadi, Burna Boy expressed regret over those comments.

He admitted that he did not realise the importance of the Afrobeats label as a unifying umbrella for African artists to thrive globally. “I didn’t realise we needed Afrobeats tag as an umbrella to go to anywhere. I totally get it now and I apologise for that confusion,” he said.

Burna Boy explained that he initially chose the term “Afrofusion” to describe his music because he felt his sound did not align with the Afrobeats category early in his career.

“I didn’t understand why people wanted my music to be inside one box,” he added. “The way I saw it, if you just put everything into Afrobeats, you’re now comparing Socrates to Kendrick Lamar because they both said two things that rhyme so they both must be rappers…”

He attributed his earlier stance to being in a “dark place mentally” at the time and now believes that unity among African musicians is essential to pushing the continent’s music forward.

Also read: Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid called out by VeryDarkMan over community neglect

This new perspective marks a turning point for the artist, as he embraces collaboration and solidarity in the African music industry.