Burna Boy performs during the 2021 Governors Ball Music Festival at Citi Field on September 26, 2021 in New York City.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Governors BallGearing up for his Hollywood Bowl performance on Friday night (Oct. 8), Burna Boy is feeling blessed. Recovering from a late-night recording session in Los Angeles that dipped into the morning, the illustrious afro-fusion star caught up with Billboard ahead of the historic set.
“I'm feeling legendary," Burna says. "Coming from where I'm from and to be doing that in L.A., the capital of entertainment of the world, for me is legendary.”
The trail-blazing artist has gone coast-to-coast, gracing the stage at New York's Governors Ball last week and gearing up for a Halloween night performance at San Francisco's Outside Lands as a part of his ongoing Space Drift Arena Tour.
His latest single, "Want It All," alongside Chicago MC Polo G, marked a step into a new genre for the afro-fusion pioneer, something he says excites him. "It's about the generation, this is kind of an evolution from the past generation and it’s crazy to see," he says.
Both Polo G and Burna are coming off of wildly successful albums, Burna's Twice As Tall debuting at No. 1 on the World Albums chart and going on to win the Grammy for best global music album in 2021. The track melds the styles of the two worlds-apart artists into an inspiring trap anthem.
"Want It All" isn't the first time the Nigerian native has dipped into other genres. He's done a number of collaborations with UK artists on pop, R&B and rap tunes, as well as linking up with Jamaican dancehall artist Vybz Kartel. Now he's adding another genre to that list. During his interview with Billboard, Burna teases future Latin music collaborations with Colombian chart-toppers Maluma -- who he's worked with already -- and J Balvin, who he plans to work with in the near future. "I'm always trying to work on something new and find that thing I've never done," he says.
As for the new generation of afro-fusion artists taking the scene by storm, Burna is proud. "Same with Fela [Kuti] creating afro-beats, I created afro-fusion. It’s my biggest achievement in life," he says. "It’s always a blessing to see [the genre] get to where it's going right now, especially with the new generation."
Tickets to tonight's show are available for purchase on Ticketmaster.
NEWS
Rise Against have released a new single, ‘Nod’, their first new music since 2022.
The new track kicks off the punk band’s “inspired next chapter” and was produced by Catherine Marks. “I swear to God this can’t wait,” vocalist and lyricist Tim McIlrath sings at the top of the song’s chorus. “Not one more minute, one more day.”
“Nod is about the solace we find in community,” said McIlrath in a press release. “It’s about the comfort in knowing that we are not alone. This comfort can temper our anger and our frustration, at least temporarily.”
‘Nod’ follows the band’s 2021 album ‘Nowhere Generation’. It was followed by an EP titled ‘Nowhere Sessions’ which included live versions of songs from the album.
Tracks such as ‘Talking To Ourselves’, ‘Broken Dreams, Inc.’ and the LP’s titular single were re-imagined as live recordings, as well as a cut of their 2008 song ‘Savior’ and covers of Misfits‘ ‘Hybrid Moments’ and Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s ‘Fortunate Son’.
Check out ‘Nod’ below:
the release of ‘Nod’ arrives just before Rise Against head out on a UK and European tour alongside L.S. Dunes and Sondaschule.
They’ll kick off the shows on January 28 in Dublin, before heading to Belfast on 29. Then, in February, they’ll head to Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Zurich and more, before wrapping up the tour in Vienna on February 22.
The tour also includes stops at London’s O2 Brixton Academy, Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse and Birmingham’s O2 Academy on February 6, 8 and 9 respectively. You can find a full list of dates further down. You can find tickets to the UK and Ireland dates here.
JANUARY
28 – 3Olympia – Dublin, Ireland
29 – Telegraph – Belfast, Northern Ireland
FEBRUARY
2 – L’Olympia – Paris, France
4 – O13 – Tillburg, Netherlands
5 – Forrest National – Brussels, Belgium
6 – O2 Brixton Academy – London, UK
8 – O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester, UK
9 – O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK
12 – Velodrom – Berlin, Germany
14 – Mitsubishi Electric Hall – Düsseldorf, Germany
15 – Sporthalle – Hamburg, Germany
17 – Zenith – Munich, Germany
18 – myticket Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
21 – Volkshaus, Zurich, Switzerland
22 –Stadthalle – Vienna, Austria
