Nigerian Afrobeat star, Burna Boy has finally explained the reason behind his controversial outburst at the organizers of Coachella in March 2019.
KanyiDaily recalls that back in March when Burna Boy was announced as one of the performers in the 2019 Coachella festival in the U.S, he seems to have an issue with the way his name appeared on the line-up poster.
He complained about the size of the character and font in which his name was written, and demanded more respect as an ‘‘African Giant.”
The singer appeared on ‘The Daily Show,’ which was hosted by South African comedian and author, Trevor Noah in the late hours of Tuesday, 13th August 2019, and performed ‘Anybody’ and ‘Ye’ before an excited audience.
But before the performance, Burna Boy had a chat with Trevor Noah on different topics. One of those was the events that led to his infamous outburst at the organizers of American concert, Coachella a few months ago.
The rant led to the artist’s now popular alias and title of his latest album, ‘African Giant.’ On the events that led to that social media outburst, Burna Boy said:
“Yeah basically, I was on the toilet seat and then my mom (also his manager, ‘Mama Burna’) calls me and was like ‘we’re doing Coachella blah blah…’ and I’m like ‘Oh yeah, that’s nice.’
“So, I get up and you know go on the (Insta)gram (laughs) and then I see the thing (the poster) and I’m seeing all the names but I literally can’t find my name. So I’m like ‘Am I really performing here? (Laughs) What’s going on?’
“And she’s (Mama Burna) like ‘Nah, it’s there.’ She had to circle it for me (to see). So, basically, that’s never happened to me before you know, I’m used to being the African giant… So I’m like, ‘What’s this? I don’t like this.’ (Laughs). So, basically, I told them… I expressed myself… So that everyone coming after me shouldn’t have to go through that.”
Part 3 pic.twitter.com/kkMHqXcSyq
— James (@MrSoundHive) August 14, 2019
Burna Boy then goes on to say that he was also fighting for all international artists who come to perform at Coachella, big in their own countries and to their primary fans. He feels international artists shouldn’t have to be subjected to limitation by American platforms.
Trevor Noah then agrees that, “(It’s only right) That one of the biggest acts in Africa has one of the biggest fonts on the page.”
He also agrees that Burna Boy is a huge act from the most populous black nation on earth (Nigeria) in one of the most populous continents (Africa).
Trevor Noah then jokes that, “I feel like it was the Nigerian in you kicking in… Nigerians and humility don’t mix. Nigerians are like we kick a**. Nigerians are like the coolest Africans on the continent (Africa).
“I can see a Nigerian saying (mimics the Nigerian accent), ‘Is this my name ehn? Did you run out of ink when you wrote my name? (Laughs)’ I can just picture that.”
Part 4 pic.twitter.com/gD1wlr6lVi
— James (@MrSoundHive) August 14, 2019