If one thing can be said about Burna Boy’s music, it is that at no point does it compromise the artist’s connection to his roots and culture. As the popularity of Afrobeats and in particular, its fusion with hip hop, reached a mainstream peak circa 2017-2018, Burna Boy was already defining his own status within the space.
Emerging as one of Nigeria’s most prominent artists following the release of his major-label debut, Outside, in 2018, the trajectory of his career in the years that have followed have marked Burna Boy (moniker of Damini Ogulu) as a leader in culture as well as music.
The Grammy winner, named as one of Rolling Stone’s 200 greatest singers of all time in 2023, has continued to climb to new levels of success – across records like African Giant, I Told Them… and Love, Damini, he demonstrated growing versatility as a vocalist, songwriter, and ambassador of this current wave of Afrobeats taking over global charts.
And while his profile has continued to grow with each sold-out tour and accolade, Burna Boy’s emotional core and vision for his artistic purpose has remained the same. Realising early on that it was bigger than the music, both for him and for people at home, the path Burna Boy has travelled is one he has taken with a steady spirit and confident perspective.
Burna Boy clocks the release of African Giant in 2019 as a particular catalyst moment.
“That was when I realised people weren’t just listening, they were identifying. It became bigger than just Burna Boy; it became a symbol of what was possible,” he tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ in an exclusive interview.
“I started hearing people say, ‘If Burna can do it, we all can.’ That’s when I knew it wasn’t just music anymore, it was movement. It wasn’t one moment; it was a pattern. I’d see the same look in different cities — recognition, relief, ownership. People weren’t just enjoying the show; they felt seen by it. The message I kept hearing was, ‘Keep the door open.’ That’s when I understood the assignment.”
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Speaking with us ahead of his long-awaited Australian tour, Burna Boy acknowledges how being on the road non-stop for much of 2025 has brought him new clarity when it comes to how he moves as a performer and importantly, as a global artist.
The release of his latest album, No Sign of Weakness, has redefined him as a songwriter and performer – this calendar year of shows, first throughout Europe, now in Australia and New Zealand, and with North America still to come, simply bolsters his connection to a global community of fans.
“It’s a different kind of marathon. Europe brought the fire, and now Australia gets the sunshine energy, it’s like the perfect balance before we take it to America,” he muses.
“Australia shows love with its whole chest. There’s an honesty to the way the crowd reacts — no half-measures. When the energy bounces back like that, it’s easy for me to empty the tank on stage. That kind of exchange builds trust; it tells me I can take musical risks and people will come with me.”
In taking multiple laps around the globe, Burna Boy has been able to see how his music and by extension, the connection to culture, has been able to grow and evolve in an organic way in countries that are so incredibly far removed from Nigeria and the broader African countries that are bringing such a powerful fusion of traditional and contemporary sounds to the mainstream.
“Touring teaches me how connected people are through rhythm. It doesn’t matter where you are, when that bass hits right, the reaction is the same,” he explains. “Touring this hard teaches you discipline in a new way. It’s not just stage time. It’s sleep, recovery, hydration, routine, and then switching it all off the second the lights go up. I like the challenge.
“Every city adds something to the album that didn’t exist before; it’s like the songs keep evolving in real time. Australia comes at a perfect point in the run; the sun, clean air, new crowds and that freshness pushes me to find different gears on stage. After that, we carry the momentum into the next leg like a relay baton. It’s a long road, but that’s where the stories come from.”
Protecting peace is something he believes in wholeheartedly, and it’s this sentiment that has filtered into Burna Boy’s creative process. No Sign of Weakness, is a project he is proud to stand beside – as he explains, “The percussion still leads, the bass still talks, the melodies still carry memories.”
Embodying a fusion of sounds that represents how far Burna Boy’s sphere of influence has extended in recent years, No Sign of Weakness stands as an engaging indicator of what is still to come. Collaborations with artists as varied as Shaboozey, Travis Scott, Stromae, and Mick Jagger speak to Burna Boy’s own interest in pushing into new territory, though he is proud that he did not have to substitute any core elements to meet demand.
“The world came closer, but we didn’t move away from our centre to meet it,” he says. “I’m proud that people can dance and still feel something true underneath. I’m also proud of the engineering and arrangement choices, the spaces where instruments are allowed to breathe, the moments where the groove is stripped down to the bone so the story can move forward. Growth without dilution, that’s the win.”
“I learned that restraint can be more powerful than volume,” he adds. “On some records I said less and let the groove carry the weight; on others I wrote like a diary entry and let the drums make room for the words. Collaboration taught me to listen deeper to hear what a beat is asking for instead of what my ego wants to say.
“I left this album more curious about texture: unexpected percussion against clean low-end, warm analogue layers over sharp modern drums, vocals that feel close enough to touch. That curiosity is already pulling me toward the next chapter.”
Taking the lessons from No Sign of Weakness into his next phase of life, Burna Boy is ready to ruminate and follow new inspiration wherever they may lead him. While touring this album is going to have him away from home for some time, he remains conscious of how important it is to balance life lived in real time, as well as life lived in the studio.
For Burna Boy, he recognises his responsibility as a storyteller carrying home with him with each project.
“Family is my compass; community is my mirror. When things get loud, those are the voices I trust,” he says. “The people who knew you before the noise will tell you the truth with love. That balance keeps me human. The work is global, but the roots are local. I water the roots first.
My mum is not just my manager, she’s the voice that reminds me of who I am when the noise gets too loud. My family, my community keeps me accountable. Port Harcourt made me; Lagos shaped me; the world introduced me. But home keeps me human.”
The legacy Burna Boy has been forming is one that he can already see impacting a new generation of artists now coming up underneath him.
Now more than ever, artists from different African nations and within the diaspora are being recognised and looked to as part of a current culture shifting force in modern music.
“I think about legacy every day, what the records will say about us when we’re not in the room to explain. I want the catalogue to read like a map: where we started, what we survived, what we built, and how we carried home with us everywhere.”
Finding connection with his audience is something that propels him forward; whether they’re of Nigerian descent, or have simply found their own connection to the music, Burna Boy is aware of the gravitational pull the energy of shows can generate.
“People might not speak the language, but they understand the feeling when the drums land and the bass breathes,” he explains. “I love watching a crowd go from curious to connected in one hook. And I enjoy the small details: hearing a local accent sing a line perfectly; noticing which rhythms make a particular city move; seeing flags in the crowd and families dancing three generations deep. Those moments remind me of why I chose to do this.”
“Then there is the connection. Seeing people who don’t even speak Yoruba or Pidgin singing word for word, that’s spiritual,” he adds. “It tells me the emotion is translating even if the language isn’t. I’ve also enjoyed discovering how each crowd moves differently. It’s energy for energy, and that’s what I feed off.
“The diaspora carries home inside them, food, slang, rhythm, memory and when the music hits, those memories wake up. I’ve seen people cry on the rail and then laugh two songs later. I’ve seen parents put their kids on their shoulders to hear a line about pride or resilience. For me, that’s bigger than a show; it’s a reunion.”
While the term “legacy” can carry a sense of finality to it, Burna Boy’s story is far from over. The energy of crowds boost him and remind him of his purpose – the generational effects of music are forever attractive to Burna Boy, just as they were to the young Damini growing up.
“I’m motivated by the kid who hears one line and stands up straighter. I’m motivated by the idea that rhythm can heal something words can’t reach,” he says. “I’m motivated by the record I haven’t made yet, the one that explains me to myself better than I can today.”
“When that’s your standard, you never run out of reasons to create. Also, because I haven’t told the full story yet. Every album is a chapter. Damini and Burna Boy are the same person, one just has more lights on him. What keeps me going is knowing that someone out there is finding themselves in my music the same way I found myself through music. That’s the real fuel is legacy, not noise.”
Burna Boy’s Australian tour kicks off in Melbourne tonight (October 16th). Tour information can be found here.
