Burna Boy has officially made history in the United States, and fans couldn’t be more thrilled to celebrate the milestone with the African singer.
The Nigerian newspaper Vanguard has reported that the “Last Last” singer played Citi Field in Queens, NY, on Saturday (July 8), where he packed out the 41,000-seat capacity stadium.
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But Burna Boy wasn’t the only performer at Citi Field — the Nigerian native (real name Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu) brought out his sister to perform an opening set, and brought out British rapper Dave for part of one of his sets.
He also performed a sneak peak of his new single “Big 7.” Watch the footage below.
@hiphopdx The new Burna is sounding @Burna Boy #burnaboy#citifield#afrobeats#big7#newsingle#burnaboyofficial♬ original sound – HipHopDX
The rising superstar has had a career that’s been on fire for quite some time now.
But if you believe Swizz Beatz, Burna Boy owes his American success to him. (And, also according to the former Ruff Ryders producer, so does Wizkid.)
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The producer was a recent guest on Amazon Music’s Rotation Roundtables with Speedy Morman, Nyla Symone, Rob Markman and Gabe P. During the interview, Swizz made a bold statement about his role in bringing Afrobeats to the U.S. audience.
“See, the key thing that you said was you got on a plane and you went to Ghana and now you’re stuck on Afrobeats,” he said. “I introduced Wizkid to America. I was the first person to play his song. Me and my wife were on a trip and we danced to his song.
“[I was the] first person to bring Burna Boy to the States. Actually, he had a Ruff Ryders bandana on and I introduced him on the stage. When I was playing Fela Kuti, people thought I was being too African, and that’s how ignorant the energy was at that time.
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“But I didn’t let that stop me from moving what I’m moving because it is what it is. It’s all educational. So we can’t be scared of the educational journey of something that sound different or feels different. So for me traveling the world, it’s a whole like — I can’t wait for people to listen to Ebo Taylor.”
He added: “It’s piercing through, by the way. People are more open-minded — they just need the right entry point.”
