It looks a bit like the Korova Milkbar from A Clockwork Orange, all geometric shapes and bursts of dazzling white. As the handset is passed around, I get a tour of the living room in his Lagos home. After a couple of false starts, his sister, who has been tasked with ensuring the interview takes place, answers the phone. Getting in touch with Burna Boy isn’t easy. Is that to make a political point? “It’s not a statement – it’s just me being who I am.” And who is that exactly? The music site Pitchfork described him as an “ everyman, local griot, global ambassador, party-starter”, but before we can find out, we have to get hold of him. That shows in the music,” he says, referring to the fact that he sings in a mix of Yoruba, Igbo and pidgin English. “I don’t really speak one language and I don’t only talk one way. But when he talks about his beloved Nigeria, the rich tones of the west African country are exposed, and it’s this that has made him arguably the continent’s most sought-after musical export. Ask him about the US, and a mid-Atlantic lilt comes into play quiz him on his time in the UK, and he sounds more like Skepta than King Sunny Ade. B urna Boy might be Africa’s biggest music star, but when he speaks, it’s hard to place exactly where he’s from.
0 kommentar(er)
