When he first introduced himself as the African Giant, most Nigerians thought it was all fun and jokes but seeing as he has earned this moniker by constantly proving himself with his musical dexterity, it’s no surprise here that Burnaboy has become one of Nigeria’s greatest musical legend in recent times, and by extension, Africa. So when news spread about a collaboration between our favourite City Boy and the queen of rap, Nicki Minaj, we just had to be there.
Burna Boy is widely recognized for having brought the African-inspired genre known as “Afrofusion,” which combines dancehall, hip hop, and afrobeat among other genres. One of the most well-known representations of African culture in the West, he has released seven studio albums over the course of a decade, as well as a feature on Beyonce’s “The Lion King: The Gift” album. Two years later, he won the Grammy award for Best Global Music Album for his work, Twice As Tall, a testament to his greatness.
It is well known that Nicki Minaj is a versatile artist who uses accents, in addition to her “sharp” lyrics, and lively flow when rapping. Not to mention, she’s without a doubt one of the biggest female rappers in the business. Minaj has attained numerous milestones, including nine American Music Awards (AMAs), twelve BET Awards, eight BET Hip Hop Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, eight MTV Video Music Awards, four People’s Choice Awards and one Soul Train Music Award.
Recently, Nicki released a snippet of a song with Burna Boy which was met with positive reviews by fans of the two and described as long overdue:
Burna Boy is no stranger to features or remixes both home and abroad, with instances like J Hus’ Masculine, Bnxn’s Lenu (Remix), Lil Durk’s All My Life, Asake’s Sungba (Remix) and lots more. He’s also had multiple projects with artistes like Jorja Smith, J Hus, Wizkid and 21 Savage. However, this would be Burna’s first collaboration with Minaj.
Because of her strong rhymes, assured delivery, and endearing demeanour, Nicki Minaj is, understandably, most frequently linked to the rap genre. But she also draws a lot of inspiration from other genres, like dance-pop, R&B, and electronic music. She has become a successful crossover artist as a result of this, as it has made her music more widely accessible. In order to develop a sound that is all her own, Minaj continuously experimented with various sounds, tempos, and production techniques throughout her career, pushing the limits of what is possible within the rap genre. This is one of many reasons why this collaboration is coming into existence.
Whatever these two musical powerhouses cook up can only be described as phenomenal. It’ll be fun to see Burna’s afrofusion fused with Minaj’s use of word play, punchlines and metaphors.
Here’s the link to the snippet: https://twitter.com/rapalert6/status/1755362690489622846?t=AW1i0Z_GABivpYWo1BlotQ&s=19