Entertainment

Burna Boy: African Giant Standing Twice As Tall

Published

5 years ago

March 19, 2021

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The previous weekend was a classic one for the Nigerian entertainment world. It was there and then in far away Los Angeles, United States of America that Nigeria’s Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu aka Burna Boy, picked up a well deserved Grammy award as the event hosted its 63rd edition. The Grammy is traditionally billed as “music’s biggest night”.

The pleasure did not end with the award, but also saw Wizkid, winning with Beyonce for their efforts in the album Brown Skin Girl.

Burna Boy won the Best Global Music Album category while Wizkid won the Best Music Video for his song with Beyoncé; Brown Skin Girl, from Lion King: The Gift album.

Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy was also a winner on the song.

The Best Music Video award is given to the artist, video director and video producer.

Burna Boy, a nominee for a second consecutive year, won with his Twice As Tall album.

Born on July 2 1991 in Port Harcourt, Burna Boy, is a singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer, and arguably Africa’s biggest and most successful artists at the moment.

Burna Boy had a humble upbringing where he was initiated into the world music early in life. Apart from his father, who managed a welding company, his grandfather, Benson Idonije, once managed Fela Kuti. His mother Bose Ogulu would later become his manager.

While growing up, the young Burna began making his own beats using FruityLoops even while he was attending Corona Secondary School in Agbara (Ogun State). He later relocated to London to further his studies. He studied Media Technology at the University of Sussex, and later Media Communications and Culture at Oxford Brookes University.

His impression in the music world started with the release in August 2013 of his debut studio album L.I.F.E, following his second mixtape Burn Identity (2011). The album sold 40,000 copies on the first day of its release. Aristokrat Records later sold its marketing rights to Uba Pacific for ₦10 million. The album’s release was preceded by five singles: “Like to Party”, “Tonight”, “Always Love You”, “Run My Race” and “Yawa Dey”.

In 2012, his rating shot up with the release of “Like to Party”, the lead single from his debut studio album L.I.F.E (2013). In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Bad Habit/Atlantic Records in the United States and Warner Music Group internationally. His third studio album Outside marked his major-label debut.

Prior to carting away an award at the 2021 Grammys, Burna Boy had in 2019, won Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards, and was announced as an Apple Music Up Next artist.

When his fourth studio album, African Giant, was released in July 2019, it won Album of the Year at the 2019 All Africa Music Awards, and was nominated for Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. He was awarded the African Artist of the year at the 2020 VGMA’s. In 2020, his album Twice as Tall was nominated for the same category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making him the first Nigerian with back-to-back nominations at the Grammys.

And to cap it up, in 2021, he won the Grammy award for Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards; obviously the first Nigerian to achieve such feat.

Burna Boy describes his music as Afro-fusion, a genre that blends Afrobeat, dancehall rhythms, reggae, American rap and R&B. August Brown of the Los Angeles Times said Burna Boy’s sound is “savvy and modern but undistracted by obvious crossover moves.”

As for his love life, it’s still unclear whether he is dating Stefflon Don or Jo Pearl, but he is a toast and an inspiration among the young.

Entertainment

Great Facts About the Forthcoming Oscars You Need to Know

Published

2 days ago

March 14, 2026

Eric

By Samantha Ofole-Prince

Below are great facts about the forthcoming Oscars most entertainment buffs may not have know…

1. Oscar is a nickname. The origins of the nickname are not clear, but a popular story has been that Academy librarian Margaret Herrick thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so. The Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar, but the Academy itself didn’t use the nickname officially until 1939.

2. Each Oscar statuette is individually handcrafted, and the Oscar statuette stands at 13½ inches high and weighs 81/2 pounds.

3. The Oscar statuette is the most recognized award in the world and statuettes have been presented since the first initial awards banquet on May 16, 1929.

4. At age 74, Clint Eastwood became the oldest winner to date in the Directing category.

5. Hattie McDaniel is the first African American to win a best supporting actress Oscar. She won for her role as Mammy in the 1939 movie “Gone with the Wind.”

6. Halle Berry is the first African American actress to win best actress Oscar. She won in 2002 for “Monster’s Ball.”

7. In 2002, Denzel Washington became the second African American actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor (“Training Day”), and the first African American actor to have won Oscars for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor (Sidney Poitier was the first to win an Oscar in 1963 for “Lilies of the Field “).

8. Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock have previously hosted the Oscars, but Billy Crystal remains the longest serving host. Crystal has hosted the Oscars nine times to date.

9. Attendance at the Oscars ceremony is by invitation only. No tickets are sold to the public and in Oscar history; only three circumstances have prevented the Academy Awards presentation from going off as scheduled. The first was in 1938, when destructive floods all but washed-out Los Angeles and delayed the ceremony. In 1968, the Awards ceremony was postponed out of respect for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been assassinated a few days earlier, and in 1981, the Awards were postponed for 24 hours because of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

10. The longest Oscar telecast was the 74th Oscars show in 2002 which had a running time of 4 hours, 23 minutes. Shortest Oscar telecast was the 31st Academy Awards in 1959 which had a running time of 1 hour, 40 minutes.

The Oscars, one of the most-watched live entertainment events of the year, will be held on Sunday, March 15 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu. With 16 nominations, Sinners set the record for most nominations for a film for the 98th Oscars.

Samantha Ofole-Prince is a U.S. journalist and movie critic who covers industry-specific news that includes television and film.

Entertainment

South African Actress, Nomzamo Mbatha, Tells Success Story on Glo-Sponsored African Voices

Published

1 week ago

March 9, 2026

Eric

Delectable South African actress, Nomzamo Mbatha, will this week on Globacom-sponsored Cable News Network International’s African Voices Changemakers, reveal her trajectory from the Rainbow Nation to the global stage of make-belief.

In the 30-minute magazine programme, show anchor, Larry Madowo, will engage Mbatha on her soaring career which earned her a mention in the prestigious TIME100 Next in 2025.

The thespian who has been featured in two Hollywood productions has also gained acclaim in the beauty industry as she has signed endorsement deals with Neutrogena and Cream of Nature, both global brands in skincare and haircare, respectively.

Madowo and Mbatha sat for the exclusive interview on set of the final season of the hit television series, Shaka iLembe at the historic Cradle of Humankind outside Johannesburg where she highlighted the cultural significance of Shaka iLembe, and why giving back to her society is at the center of her aspirations as well as the legacy she desires to build beyond the glitz and glamour of the big screen.

This edition of African Voices Changemakers will be broadcast on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with additional broadcasts at noon same day. On Sunday, further repeats hold at 4:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and on Monday at 3:00 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. The repeats continue on Tuesday at 5:45 p.m and Saturday, March 14 at 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m and Sunday, March15 at 3:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m as well as Monday, March 16 at 3:00 a.m.

Entertainment

Tiwa Savage Launches Music Foundation in Lagos

Published

3 weeks ago

February 26, 2026

Eric

Nigerian Afrobeats star, Tiwa Savage, has unveiled a new initiative aimed at nurturing emerging African creatives, announcing the launch of the Tiwa Savage Music Foundation and a landmark partnership that will bring the prestigious Berklee College of Music to Lagos for the first time.

The 46-year-old singer announced on her social media platform on Wednesday, declaring, “After years of building globally… It’s time to build at home.”

She introduced Tiwa Savage Music Foundation as “a new initiative dedicated to empowering emerging African creatives through access, mentorship and world-class music education,” adding that, “For the first time ever, Berklee comes to Lagos with the Tiwa Savage Intensive Music Programme empowering Africa’s next generation of talent.”

Berklee College of Music, based in Boston, Massachusetts, is the world’s largest independent college of contemporary music, renowned for its programmes in jazz, modern American music, and a broad range of genres including rock, hip hop, reggae and more.

In an interview with CNN, the “Ma Lo” singer explained that while Afrobeats has gained global prominence, the industry requires more structural support to remain sustainable.

“Afrobeats has captured the world’s attention, but attention alone is not enough to sustain an industry. Talent is universal — but access is not,” she said.

According to CNN, the Tiwa Savage Music Foundation is designed to bridge that access gap.

Beyond supporting vocalists and performers, the foundation will also focus on producers, composers, sound engineers and music business professionals — areas Savage considers critical to building a durable creative economy across Africa.

The foundation’s first major project, tagged Berklee in Nigeria: Tiwa Savage Intensive Music Programme, will see Berklee faculty travel to Lagos from April 23 to 26, 2026, to host a fully funded four-day training for 100 emerging Nigerian music creators.

The programme marks Berklee’s first-ever event in West Africa.

Savage underscored the impact of short, focused training, saying, “You’d be surprised how much you can learn in four days. It gives you a taste of what’s possible and exposes you to parts of music you may not even realise you’re drawn to.”

With the launch of the Tiwa Savage Music Foundation and the forthcoming intensive programme in Lagos, the award-winning singer is now seeking to extend that same opportunity to the next generation — shifting from building global acclaim to building sustainable structures at home.