I have a confession to make that night change how you look at me....I don’t know shit about AfroBeats. There. I said it. I don’t feel better for telling you but now we can move on openly and honestly.
This is extra disappointing because I’m pretty African, my name is 27 letters long, I’ve had Tuberculosis and I’ve swam with a Crocodile. I’m hella African. However when it comes to Afrobeats I draw a blank. I couldn’t tell you shit about shit. However, I refuse to let myself go out like this. Afrobeats have taken the world by storm and it’s my duty as a dark skinned knobby kneed Zimbabwean to vibe with it.
So with no further ado let’s get into Burna Boy’s new album: “African Giant”.
I didn’t know much about Burna Boy but I saw his interview on the Breakfast Club and became intrigued. Once I heard Charlemagne the God fake laugh at all of his jokes during an interview I knew he was someone important because Charlemagne only does that for Cardi B, Gucci Mane and Tomi Lauren. With that, I pressed play on “African Giant”.
This shit goes.
Even though Burna Boy is Nigerian and I’m Zimbabwean I felt an immediate kinship. He reminds me of one of my cousins who taught me how to drink and how to pickpocket. He’s just cool, like he exudes a swag that only an African can. This nigga is so cool he could wear a winter coat with no shirt in the African Sun and never sweat. This is the type of nigga who can have a fresh cut with no line up; that takes a lot of coolness.
Musically I don’t know how exactly to describe it but I can honestly say that when I pressed play, I looked at the white lady sitting across from me with such disdain. This is music to eat Goat to. If I ever had to siphon gas from a barrel into a 1999 Honda Accord (again) I’d listen to this to distract myself from the taste of Gasoline.
I think what I like about AfroBeats so far is that it doesn’t care how well you can dance, it just wants you to dance. Within no time I caught myself bobbing my head and swaying from side to side. It hit me like an oscillating fan during a heat wave; I didn’t care how goofy I looked, I just wanted to Feel the energy.
You have to work really hard to be in a bad mood listening to this, which is impressive because he discusses some heavy topics and issues that face the modern African. I think this ties in to how Africans process grief and despair. Africans (and many other Eastern Cultures) maintain the belief that many hardships are externally caused so while they are out of our control, they can control their reactions and their outlook on the world. Burna Boy’s music does a great job of getting this sentiment across effortlessly; he’s not trying to make you feel anything, he’s letting you know how HE feels, and it’s ok! Dance!
For my first Afrobeats album I’m very impressed. This shit makes me wanna throw out all my forks and knives to start eating with my right hand. This music makes me want to throw out all my white claws and buy Heineken’s. This music makes me want to go into my phone contacts and delete every white gi-ok you get my point. “African Giant” made me feel a lot. It’s still not my vibe as hiphop has my heart, but I’m willing to learn more.
I give “African Giant” 8 ashy leather sandals every African Father wears out of 10.