2Baba, D’banj, Timaya… Burna Boy lists 5 artistes who impacted his career

Burna Boy, the Afrofusion singer, has paid tributes to the music heavyweights who impacted his career. 

In a recent Instagram live, Burna Boy mentioned 2Baba, Timaya, D’banj, Larry Gaaga, and Wande Coal as the artistes he respects in the music industry.

The Grammy winner described Timaya as “my number one OG who showed me brotherly love”. He also recalled his encounter with Timaya in 2012 and the advice he received from him.

The ‘Last Last’ hitmaker revealed that D’banj paid for ‘Won Da Mo’ visuals in 2013 while praising 2Baba for his “musicality”.

The 32-year-old singer also hailed Larry Gaaga for “standing by me in my dark times” and then mentioned Wande Coal.

“The only OGs I can say, wey be say did some sh*ts that were impactful for me, number one Timaya. Because that is the nigga that always showed me like this guy you be…,” he said.

“Bro I went to Timaya’s house in 2013 or 2012, I saw all the cars and I was like ‘bro, how long does someone have to sing before he can get all these and build a house?’ And he said, ‘Do you know how many cars you will have?’ So that’s the ni**a that you can say that I am going to have to respect for the rest of my life.

“There are ni**as like D’banj. D’banj actually paid for ‘Won Da Mo’ video. He did not have to. These are two ni**as that I really do not play with.

“Not that ni**as do not have respect, ni**as have just been through a lot that we do not even remember people we saw in the dark times.

“People like Larry Gaaga. He stood by me back then. So these are people I will respect for the rest of my life.

“When you’re talking about OGs, as far as I’m concerned, those names are the only ones in addition to 2Face based on musicality and the fact that he did a feature with me when he didn’t have to back in the day. These are OGs to me. Any other person isn’t an OG to me. ID Cabasa, you can meet Olamide and you can be an OG to him [laughs]. We’ve all been through stuff differently and we all see life differently.

“I can’t forget Wande Coal, too. At a point in time, we were so close.”

Born Damini Ogulu, Burna Boy started to gain fame after releasing ‘Like to Party’, the lead single from his debut album ‘L.I.F.E’ (2013).

In 2021, the singer set a record in Nigeria after his fifth album ‘Twice As Tall (2020)’ won the ‘Best World Music Album’ category at the Grammys.

Burna Boy claimed he brought the Afrobeats genre to the mainstream in 2020.

“FACT! I always knew I was and I am THE BEST. Everyone you think is the best KNOWS I’m BEST since Fela Kuti,” he had said.

Last month, 2Baba described Burna Boy as “a great music icon”.