On Friday, August 14th, while social media was agog after Burna Boy dropped his latest album, “Twice As Tall”, the singer gave an interview on the popular New York syndicated radio show, ‘The Breakfast Club.’
On the broadcast, we saw a relaxed Burna chatting with the breakfast club trio; Charlemagne Tha God, Angela Yee, and DJ Envy. He spoke on “Twice As Tall”, his passion for Pan-Africanism, and a lot more.
When DJ Envy queried that Diddy had said the album was “album of the year” Burna chuckled and said, “That’s the plan.”
He also set Charlemagne Da Good straight when he alluded he was stuck in “Africa” because of the ongoing pandemic, by correcting him saying “Lagos”. That was key given the western world tends to see Africa as one country and not a continent of 54 largesse countries.
How Covid-19 made working on “Twice As Tall” easier
Burna admitted that the pandemic sped things up for his latest album to happen. He said:
“Usually I’d be on tour and I’ll be everywhere and alot will be happening at the same time, but this time I was literally at home and doing everything on the internet.”
He’s used to being all over the place. He hasn’t been in one location for more than two weeks in the past three years. However, Covid-19 changed that.
” I also had time to brainstorm and think the best way to go about it”
He also shared the pandemic made it easy to collaborate with Diddy and Cold Play’s Chris Martin.
On working with Diddy
When DJ Envy asked why he had “Diddy” executive-produce the album given he’s never been on an African project before Burna Boy said, “He’s someone I’ve always looked up to, it’s a big blessing for me. It wasn’t the plan in the beginning [laughs], but then it just happened organically and it’s been perfect every step of the way, you know…”
He continues, “I just wanted this album to be a strong bridge to everywhere there is black people. I just felt Diddy would be the best person to bring that power, I didn’t expect him to put in all that work. I appreciate it, man.”
Also read:
-Burna Boy Drops His “Twice As Tall” Album Amidst Deafening Ovation
-All We Know About Burna Boy’s Upcoming Album “Twice As Tall” Set Of Drop This August
-Burna Boy Says “Twice As Tall” Will Inspire An African Revolution As He Graces NME Magazine Cover
On his passion for Pan-Africanism
Burna Boy has always advocated for black power and Pan-Africanism and has made several songs about it. On that, he says, “It’s very important to me because I feel like most of us black people don’t understand the importance of us being together at a time like this and we tend to forget that our real power will come from the fact that the rest of the world sees this united black power.
“That’s the scariest thing western civilization and all that – the power of black unity. If that can be achieved, the world would be black [laughs].”
On what he perceives to be ‘blackness’
“Blackness has nothing to do with where you’re from and where you’ve been. At this point, blackness is the togetherness and the fact that we all share the same struggles… The minute we understand that is the minute we come together to win this struggle. We can’t win this struggle without a base… [Blackness] belongs to you as it belongs to us…”
Even though Burna boy spoke freely during the interview, he did observe some restraint (unusual of him) when he was asked some dicey questions. He declined to comment when asked about Beyoncé and the claim she was merchandising African culture. However, he let slip he wasn’t very impressed with Beyoncé’s effort on connecting all black people. He quickly added, “I don’t think I should comment on that right now.”
Watch the full interview with Burna Boy below
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