How I had to choose between greatness and death – Burna Boy

Grammy Award-winning singer, Damini Ogulu, aka Burna Boy, has revealed what led to his recent successes on the global stage.

Burna Boy during an interview with GQ Magazine said that at a point in his life, he had to choose between greatness and death following many collaborations with foreign artistes of African heritage.

He said, “Following several collaborations with foreign artistes of African heritage, I just made up my mind that I wanted it all. I wanted to be the greatest. That’s when it hit me really hard that I had to do it. It was that or death.”

The self-acclaimed African Giant also stated that winning a Grammy award broke the mental cycle of people who felt that certain things were unachievable. He added, “I was not celebrating because of myself. It was almost as if I had broken a mental cycle of our people. Our people had been very mentally oppressed to feel like they could not do certain things, and that certain things were unreachable.”

The singer also noted that he felt he had to think for a whole generation. He said, “Every day, I realise more that things are bigger than me. I have to think for a lot of people – basically a whole generation – before I think of myself.”