It was no surprise to many that award-winning afrobeats singer, Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, made it to the Time Magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People in 2024.
The list, which was released on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, celebrated individuals who had shaped the world in the past year, spanning luminaries from diverse fields such as sports, entertainment, music and politics; all handpicked by cultural and political icons.
Burna Boy was nominated by Beninese singer, Angelique Kidjo. In her tribute to him on Times’ website, Kidjo wrote, “Ten years ago or so, when young African musicians would come to me for advice, I would tell them, ‘You don’t need to mimic American artistes. The world needs the amazing richness and beauty of our traditional African music and culture. This land is where most of modern music comes from. This source of inspiration is inexhaustible. Its freshness and its elegance will get the world’s attention for sure’.
Burna Boy, has undoubtedly inspired many other artistes. He has taken afrobeats to new heights with great exposure and awards. The ‘Last Last’ singer made history in 2023 as the first afrobeats artiste to perform at the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, United States of America. He was also the first Nigerian artiste to be featured on the cover of the Grammy Awards official playlist. That same year, he became the first African artiste to hit one billion streams on popular streaming app, Audiomack.
Burna Boy also nominated British rapper, Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, known professionally as 21 Savage, to make the list.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
