Damini Ogulu, nicknamed Burna Boy, a Grammy-winning Nigerian artist, has claimed that the afrobeat genre lacks lyrical content and is “just a great time.”

According to him, the genre is “literally nothing.”

This was stated by the self-styled “African Giant” in a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in New York.

He stated, “90% of them [Nigerian musicians] have no real life experiences, which is why most Nigerian music, African music, or afro beats as people call it, is mostly about nothing, literally nothing.”

Read: Burna Boy wins Best International Act at the BET Awards 2023

“There’s no substance to it; nobody’s talking about anything in it.” It’s simply a wonderful moment. It’s an incredible time. But, at the end of the day, life is not an awesome moment. You will face life regardless of how good a time you are having now, had previously, or plan to have in the future.

“So, in my opinion, music should be the essence of the artist.” An artist is a person who has excellent days, awful days, amazing days, and bad days. So, I’m releasing a project that will serve as a portal for fans to observe those experiences.”

The Gist House remembers that Burna Boy has stated that his music is not afro beats but afro-fusion, which he defines as a fusion of afrobeat, hip-hop, reggae, R&B, and dancehall.