Burna Boy: Grammy win felt like I’d broken oppressive mindset of Nigerians

Burna Boy says winning a Grammy award felt like he had broken an oppressive mental cycle where Nigerians don’t believe they can achieve certain things.

The ‘African Giant’ crooner was speaking of his early motivations in music during his GQ Magazine feature.

Burna Boy broke a record at the 2021 Grammys after his ‘Twice As Tall’ became the first Afrobeats album to win the award.

In the chat, the ‘Ye’ singer reflected on the euphoria that marked that moment, at which time a video of him celebrating the win had surfaced and went viral on social media.

“I wasn’t celebrating because of myself. It was almost as if I’ve broken a mental cycle of our people,” the Grammy winner said.

“Because our people have been very mentally oppressed to feel like they can’t do certain things and that certain things are unreachable. You are what you think, at the end of the day.”

The singer also said he has become aware of the responsibility, sacrifices, and risks that accompany his position as a socially conscious hitmaker.

“[It is] time to start thinking about ourselves, not what the society said we should be or what our limitations say we should be,” he added.

“I’ve come from Port Harcourt, the bottom of the map in Nigeria, and now I’ve become a champion. It may not mean anything to someone else, but to me, and to us, it means more than you can imagine.

“Every day I realise more that things are bigger than me. I have to think for a lot of people – basically a whole generation – before I think for myself.”

Burna Boy had earlier made headlines after he pointed out that he would have won a Grammy since 2013 if Nigeria had leaders who took the youths seriously.