- Joey Akan criticized Burna Boy for his recent comments about abandoning his “African Giant” identity.
- Burna Boy revealed that he feels his “African Giant” persona is dead.
- He introduced a new alter ego, “Big 7,” which he claims will protect his emotional well-being.
Prominent music critic Joey Akan has strongly rebuked Burna Boy following the artist’s recent emotional revelation about abandoning his “African Giant” identity.
Earlier this week, Burna Boy surprised fans by sharing a cryptic message hinting that the “African Giant” persona was dead, replaced by a new alter ego, “Big 7,” tasked with protecting his wounded heart.
Responding via X (formerly Twitter), Akan dismissed Burna Boy’s claims of betrayal, arguing that the artist’s current state is the result of choices rooted in the “madness of success.”
According to Akan, Burna Boy began to distance himself from Nigerian and African roots after achieving international acclaim through albums like Twice As Tall. He pointed to several incidents, including Burna Boy’s verbal attacks on Nigerian fans, his dismissal of African culture as lacking substance, and instances of aggression toward concert attendees, as evidence of this growing disconnect.
“African Giant” was not killed by ‘his people.’ It was suicide. Suicide induced by an abundance of success. After advocating for his people on a successful protest-esque project, Burna Boy’s subsequent ascent into global pop recognition came with a personal realisation that his bread is better buttered away from the complexity of Nigeria.
And so he began a campaign against his people and the culture that birthed him. He called the culture “substance-less,” called the country “a waste of time,” kicked fans at his concerts, and blamed his Nigerian listeners for any inconvenience he’s ever felt. “I’ll rather kill you than die for you…”
He said, to the same people who received him as a local champion, and spurred his elevation to new heights. And now, with the spectre of a new album looming, he’s restricted his listenership to “concert buyers,” backtracked that position with empty loveletters, while still accusing Nigerians of worse; “killing their idol.”
It’s akin to madness and the height of narcissism to erode your goodwill by self-inflicted cuts, while apportioning causality to your victims. You cut yourself and bled on Nigerians. And when we protested, you called us poor.
Burna Boy might have lived once as the people’s champ, but ever since the world opened up to him, he’s put his country on his chopping block, and pulled every available dagger in his arsenal. And with each delivered cut to his Africans, the African Giant has also bled himself out. Suicide. A self-killing, induced by the madness of success.”
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