Burna Boy still a work in progress, says mother

Bose Ogulu, the mother and manager of Afrobeats megastar, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, has said the singer is still a work in progress in spite his achievements.

“I admire the diligence, the hard work but he’s still a work in progress,” Bose Ogulu told the BBC.

She said, “There are many more milestones to attain. We need to not just step down and look at what we’ve done, but keep doing more.”

Popularly referred to as ‘Mama Burna’ by fans, Ms Ogulu is also an accomplished businesswoman and linguist.

“I ran a language school for 18 years. I quickly understood the power of languages and the power of culture,” she revealed.

In order to manage Burna, Ms Ogulu had to step away from the language school – a decision she says she was confident in making.

“I have known since he was probably 13 or 14 that he was going to be great at something. I had already seen him in the studio, I had already watched him form a high school band,” she said.

“From when he was in JSS3, which I think would be Year 9, we started trading studio time for grades. I would say: ‘OK, if you make a B or an A in this, I’ll pay for studio time during your mid-term’.”

However, she said she wasn’t prepared for Burna Boy to drop out of university in order to pursue his burgeoning music career.

She said, “That was my problem, like ‘OK you can do this, but you’re almost there. How about you just finish this degree programme’.

“That’s where the African in me came out. Together his father, my father and I sat down and told him the consequences of doing it his way and he was like: ‘That’s fine’.”

Burna Boy made history as the first African musician to headline a sold-out stadium show in the US, as well as the UK.

Burna Boy released his fifth studio album, Twice as Tall, in August 2020. It won Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammys Awards

His latest album, I Told Them, shot into the top 10 in charts across the world.