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.
The world leader, who has repeatedly faced criticism for featuring songs from artists who do not want their music connected to his political views, shared a viral clip of We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) that focused on the lyric: “Me and my truth we sit in silence.”
The footage shows Trump at a rally while the statement “Men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports” appears on screen.
The Team Trump TikTok account posted the video with the caption: “This shouldn’t be controversial! #trump #arianagrande #maga.”
Ariana responded in a comment that was later removed, saying: “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.”
Trump has a well known record of opposing transgender rights, and the US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from taking part in women’s sports. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices determined that such laws do not breach Title IX or the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
The decision in June came after several other actions by the Trump administration involving transgender policies. Earlier in May, the Supreme Court also permitted the administration to continue with its “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” order, which would prevent transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
Ariana’s statement arrived soon after Taylor Swift also took steps to stop Trump from using her music on TikTok. Trump had featured a number of her songs in his social media posts, including a video of him and his wife Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks accompanied by August.
The song was later taken off the post and replaced by a notice that read: “This sound isn’t available.”
Trump appeared to deliberately select Taylor’s track, adding the message: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
He also responded to the Team Trump video with: “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president.”
Other Taylor Swift songs that were removed from Trump’s TikTok content included The Fate of Ophelia and Father Figure.
Trump previously made headlines when he wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social after the singer publicly announced that she planned to support Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election.
