Grammy award winner, Damini Ogulu, who is better known as Burna Boy, has come out to state that he considers himself to be ‘Jamaican’ than Nigerian.
The singer-songwriter explained that while studying in Brixton, United Kingdom, years ago, he was surrounded by Jamaicans and developed a deep connection with the Caribbean nation.
He said listening to Jamaican music while growing up also influenced his love for the country.
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Speaking in an interview with Capital Xtra London, Burna Boy said, “Jamaica has always been a part of me — from my dad playing Super Cat and stuff when I was a kid to me ending up in Brixton, when almost every Nigerian in the UK was either in school or in Peckham. I ended up in Brixton.
“So, I considered myself more Jamaican at the time simply for the fact that everyone around me was Jamaican and Caribbean. There were minimal Nigerians around me at that time. When I go back home to Nigeria, then I’m really a Nigerian. But when I was here, I’m Jamaican. Even the Africans that were my guys were not Nigerians. They were Gambians, Ugandans, and Congolese. There were only two Nigerians in my crew.”
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Burna Boy has previously revealed in an interview that he sees Jamaica as “home.”
He also said his style of music is heavily influenced by Jamaican reggae and dancehall.
Burna Boy dated British-Jamaican rapper Stefflon Don between 2019 and 2021.
The Death of African Giant: Burna’s Feud With Nigerians
In recent times, Burna is renowned for demeaning his home country of Nigeria and oftentimes disclosing that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with Nigerians.
Speaking via his IG page, the one-time Grammy award winner blamed Nigerians for “killing” the old version of him.
The singer revealed that the new and old versions of him are constantly in conflict.
He wrote, “The ‘African Giant’ Burna Boy died. His own people killed him. Then ‘Big 7’ was born to protect what was left of ‘Burna Boy.’
“Burna Boy and Big 7 fight each other a lot because while Big 7 is only protecting the final and only existing piece of Burna Boy’s broken heart, the ‘African Giant’ still haunts Burna Boy.”
