18th June, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Grammy-nominated Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti, has lamented that Burna Boy is erroneously being credited for records set by him and others in the Nigerian music industry.
He recalled that Burna Boy was widely reported as the first artiste to play in Coachella in 2020 despite his (Kuti’s) performance at the festival in 2012.
He also mentioned that before Burna Boy earned his first Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album with African Giant, his elder brother, Femi Kuti had received multiple nominations in the category.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Public Republic, Kuti lamented that his album ‘Black Times’ was nominated for Best World Music Album years ago but no African award organiser considered it for a nomination.
The controversial singer stated that despite earning another Grammy nomination for his contributions to Janelle Monae’s ‘Age of Pleasure,’ which was nominated in the Album of the Year category at the 2024 Grammys, the media didn’t mention him among the Nigerian artists nominated for the 66th Grammys.
“My brother [Femi Kuti] has been nominated at the Grammys multiple times. They’ve nominated me, I was also nominated in the last edition.
“It was only my name that they [Nigerian media] didn’t mention among the Nigerian artists who were nominated for the 66th Grammys. That’s what they do every time as if I’m from Togo.
“That’s how they said Burna boy was the first Nigerian artiste to play in Coachella in 2020 where me I’ve played in 2012 as if I’m from Togo,” he lamented.