The Nigerian megastar created history by being the first African musician to headline a sold-out stadium event in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, his latest album, I Told Them…, debuted in the top ten of global charts.
Burna Boy, on the other hand, has not yet realised his full potential, according to his mother.
“I admire the diligence, the hard work, but he’s still a work in progress,” said Bose Ogulu, who also manages the Afrobeats singer, to BBC’s Nyasha Michelle.
“There are many more goals to achieve.” We must not only take a step back and reflect on what we’ve accomplished, but also continue to achieve more.”
Ms Ogulu, affectionately known as Mama Burna by admirers, competes for the title of ultimate “momager” with Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.
Mama Burna learned the craft from her father, who worked as a manager for late Nigerian icon Fela Kuti. Aside from music, she is a successful businesswoman and linguist.
“For 18 years, I ran a language school.” “I quickly realised the power of languages and culture,” said Ms Ogulu, who joined the likes of Stormzy, Mohamed Salah and Mo Farah as a Best of Africa award-winner.
Ms Ogulu had to leave the language school in order to manage Burna, a move she says she was confident in making.
“I knew he was going to be great at something since he was probably 13 or 14 years old.” “I’d already seen him in the studio, and I’d already seen him form a high school band,” she explained.
“We started trading studio time for grades when he was in JSS3, which I believe was Year 9.” ‘OK, if you get a B or an A in this, I’ll pay for studio time during your midterm,’ I’d offer.”
She, on the other hand, “wasn’t prepared” for Burna Boy to drop out of university to pursue his budding music career.