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
Kaiser Chiefs have announced a 20th anniversary reissue of their seminal debut album, ‘Employment’. Find all the details below.
The Leeds band released the seven-times Platinum, UK Number Two record back in 2005. It features the classic singles ‘Oh My God’, ‘I Predict A Riot’ and ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’.
‘Employment’ was named Best Album at the NME Awards 2006 – beating competition from Oasis, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and Babyshambles – and has sold more than 2.1million copies.
Ahead of their huge 20th anniversary homecoming gig at Temple Newsam Park next Saturday (May 31) – where they’ll play ‘Employment’ in full – Ricky Wilson and co. have shared details of a special reissue to further mark the milestone.
A year typically commemorated with china, the group will celebrate two decades of their debut full-length with three brand new expanded ‘China Anniversary’ formats – which will arrive on July 18. Pre-order/pre-save here.
The 1LP edition is pressed on white vinyl and features the bonus track ‘Take My Temperature’, while the 2LP set contains 15 additional tracks, including a selection of B-sides and CD single bonus tracks, plus two previously unreleased songs, exclusive to this format.
On the 3CD set, alongside the original album, the band have added 40 tracks, including previously unreleased demo recordings, remixes, radio sessions, and a selection of live tracks that “chart their rapid rise from small club dates in Leeds, to festival headline act”.
The original album has been remastered at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, with the bonus material being curated by the band from their own archive.
To preview the forthcoming release, Kaiser Chiefs have shared ‘I Predict A Riot (Big Nurse Remix)’. Listen here:
The tracklists for Kaiser Chiefs’ ‘Employment – China Anniversary Edition’ are:
1LP:
Side A
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
2. I Predict A Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
Side B
1. Born To Be A Dancer
2. Saturday Night
3. What Did I Ever Give You?
4. Time Honoured Tradition
5. Caroline, Yes
6. Team Mate
7. Take My Temperature
2LP:
Side A
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
2. I Predict A Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
Side B
1. Born To Be A Dancer
2. Saturday Night
3. What Did I Ever Give You?
4. Time Honoured Tradition
5. Caroline, Yes
6. Team Mate
7. Take My Temperature
Side C
1. Less Is More
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Brightest Star
4. Not Surprised
5. Think About You (And I Like It)
6. Hard Times Send Me
7. Sink That Ship
Side D
1. The Letter Song
2. Seventeen Cups
3. It Ain’t Easy (Demo)
4. Run Again
5. People Need Light
6. Moon
7. Formative Years*
8. Don’t Get Me Wrong*
(*previously unreleased tracks)
3CD:
CD1
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
2. I Predict A Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
7. Born To Be A Dancer
8. Saturday Night
9. What Did I Ever Give You?
10. Time Honoured Tradition
11. Caroline, Yes
12. Team Mate
13. Take My Temperature
CD2
1. Wrecking Ball
2. Brightest Star
3. Not Surprised
4. Think About You And I Like You
5. Hard Times Send Me
6. Sink That Ship
7. Less Is More
8. The Letter Song
9. Seventeen Cups
10. It Ain’t Easy (Demo)
11. Run Again
12. People Need Light
13. Moon
14. Another Number
15. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
16. Modern Way (Rhythms Del Mundo Version)
17. You Can Have It All (Light Orchestral)
18. Oh My God (Demo)*
19. Born To Be A Dancer (Demo)
20. Caroline Yes (Demo)*
21. I Predict A Riot (Demo)*
22. Modern Way (Demo)*
23. Saturday Night (Demo)*
(*previously unreleased tracks)
CD3
1. Everyday I Love You Less And Less (Spike Stent Remix)
2. I Predict A Riot (Spike Stent Remix)*
3. Na Na Na Na Naa (Polysics Remix)
4. Everyday I Love You Less And Less (Boyz Noize Remix)
5. I Predict A Riot (Big Nurse Remix)*
6. Sink That Ship (BBC Radio 2 Session for Mark Radcliffe 17/10/2005)*
7. Modern Way (BBC Radio 2 Session for Mark Radcliffe 17/10/2005)*
8. Everyday I Love You Less And Less (Live at The Mod Club, Toronto 29/05/2005)*
9. Hard Times Send Me (Live at the Academy, Birmingham 24/01/2005)*
10. Na Na Na Na Naa (Live at Glastonbury, Worthy Farm 25/06/2005)*
11. Oh My God (Live at Georg-Elser-Hallen, Munich 04/11/2005)
12. Born To Be A Dancer (Live at T In The Park, Kinross 10/07/2005)*
13. Saturday Night (Live at Joseph’s Well, Leeds 28/09/2003)*
14. Sink That Ship (Live at The Cockpit, Leeds 13/12/2004)
15. Take My Temperature (Live at the Fillmore, San Francisco 25/07/2005)
16. Time Honoured Tradition (Live at the Metro Theatre, Sydney 29/11/2005)*
17. Caroline, Yes (Live at the Metro Theatre, Sydney 29/11/2005)*
18. I Predict A Riot (Live at V Festival, Hylands Park, Chelmsford 20/08/2005)*
19. Take My Temperature (Live at Leeds Town Hall 11/05)*
20. Oh My God (Live at the Metro Theatre, Sydney 29/11/2005)*
(*previously unreleased tracks)
Speaking to NME upon announcing their big ‘Employment’ gig in Leeds – where they’ll be joined by the likes of Razorlight, The Cribs and We Are Scientists – Kaiser Chiefs said they’d be “doing nostalgia properly” at the event.
“We wanted to try and focus in and make it like a celebration of 2005 or 2006-ish,” said bassist Simon Rix.
Wilson also teased that fans could expect “songs that we wouldn’t usually play” at Temple Newsam, and promised some onstage nods to the ‘Employment’ era. “The beard’s coming off and the eyeliner is going on,” the frontman told NME.
He also looked back on playing on the NME Tour and said he was “surprised” to learn that ‘Employment’ had won the Best Album prize at the NME Awards.
In addition to next week’s Leeds show, the Kaisers have dates scheduled for Port Talbot, Bristol, Edinburgh Castle, London’s Alexandra Palace Park, Brighton Beach and other locations as part of their 2025 outdoor ‘Employment’ tour. You can find any remaining tickets here.
They’ll also make appearances at various summer festivals, including Glastonbury, Latitude, Boardmasters and Kendal Calling.
The band’s latest full-length record, ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album’, was released last year. Speaking to NME last October, Wilson revealed that he’d already “thought of a good title” for its follow-up. “It always starts with the title,” he added.
