Artist:Burna Boy
Song:Last Last
Album:Love, Damini
Damini "Burna Boy" Ogulu is a Nigerian who performs in the Jamaican Dancehall style. So far he has had international success. But he may be making inroads in the US as the 2022 single Last Last cracked the top 40. It was also a top five hit in England. He doesn't perform in English so crossing over to mainstream is a tall order. He was born July 2, 1991 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. His grandfather was a DJ on the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and Fela Kuti's first manager. Ogulu started out creating his own beats using FL Studio. After graduating from high school, Ogulu studied at University of Sussex and Oxford Brookes University in England. He returned to Nigeria and was an intern at Rhythm 93.7 FM in Port Harcourt. Then he moved to Lagos to work on his music. After self releasing a 2013 album, Ogulu signed with Aristokrat Records. But he wasn't happy there and returned to self releasing. The international interest began when Ogulu appeared on the 2018 Fall Out Boy song Sunshine Riptide. Then he released the album Outside with guest appearances by J Hus, Lily Allen and Mabel. His music is a mix of Afrobeat and Dancehall. Ogulu started performing internationally including a sold out concert at the O2 Academy Brixton in London. And he was named Best International Artist at the 2019 BET Awards. But to go farther, he needed a major label so he signed with Atlantic Records. Then he made a guest appearance on Beyonce's soundtrack for the 2019 film The Lion King: The Gift produced by Richard "P2J" Isong who has worked with Ogulu for his entire career. He continued to have success as a concert draw and he appeared as a guest artist with Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Justin Bieber. He also won a Grammy. But he finally got that hit single with Last Last from the 2022 album Love, Damini. Last Last reached #4 on the British Singles chart, topped the R&B Singles chart and reached #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ogulu writes and produces with various producers, most notably Isong. He wrote Last Last with Finnish producers Off & Out, MDS and Ruuben and Nigerian producer Chopstix. The main sample is Toni Braxton's 2000 single He Wasn't Man Enough. You can hear her in the background throughout the song. So LaShawn Daniels, Harvey Mason Jr., Fred Jerkins III and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins all got a songwriting credit. Guests on the album include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, J Hus, Ed Sheeran, J Balvin and Khalid. That is likely to be his biggest hit as US radio station programmers will always be reluctant to play an artist who sings in a foreign language. He doesn't need it anyway as he is now a big international star. A top ten pop hit sure would be nice though. Here's the video for Last Last by Burna Boy.
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