14th August, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Ronami Ogulu, the sister of Grammy-winning superstar, Burna Boy, has narrated how Bose Ogulu, their mother, usually doubled Burna Boy’s show money from her salary to motivate him to perform.
Burna Boy has two siblings Ronami and Nissi Ogulu. Romani is the Chief Operations Officer of Burna Boy’s record label, ‘Spaceship Collective’
Speaking on Overnight Success, Ronami revealed how how supportive their parents were during the early days of the singer’s career.
She also disclosed that Samuel Ogulu, their dad, would drive Burna Boy to shows, wait for him, and drive him back home after his performance.
“In 2018. That was the first time my mother ever paid herself for working with Burna Boy,” Ronami said.
“I had to sit her down when we were at the bank and I said you have to pay yourself. It was an actual intervention because the whole time Burna Boy did not know the half of it.
“When Burna Boy was coming up, people would call my mother to book a show and let’s say it is in Warri and they are like we are only going to pay N100k and she knows he is not going to wake up from his bed in Lagos to come to Warri for N100k when he has N100k.
“So she will tell him it is N200k and she will take out of her salary because she had her own language school and was teaching at the University in Port Harcourt at the time.
“So she will take out of her own money, add it to his fee, and say it is N200k. My dad will drive him to the show, wait for him, and drive him back home. So that was the trajectory.
“The day she signed a cheque, wrote her name on it to pay herself. That day, I was like now we are in business.”
Burna Boy gained attention in 2013 after releasing ‘Like to Party,’ the lead single from his debut album ‘L.I.F.E.’
With a string of awards and accolades, the singer has maintained his status as one of the leading artistes out of Africa.
