Burna Boy: the African Gian turns an incredible show to a carnival in London

Brought up in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt as Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, Burna Boy is credited with putting Afrobeats – a catch-all term for a percussive style of West African music fused with funk, hip hop and celebratory rhythms – on the international pop music map. Ogulu’s mellifluous voice, shiny beats and gospel-chant backing vocals land his sound somewhere between a Saturday night and a Sunday morning, and it has resonated with not only the African diaspora, but also a diverse legion of fans worldwide. The first African artist to pack arenas around the world – including Madison Square Garden in New York and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles – he also boasts a collaborators list that reads like a Who’s Who of chart toppers: Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, to name a few.

Burna Boy has hit the music industry milestones. Now, on his Love, Damini tour, he’s throwing himself a party. On Saturday night, the bright June sun mellowing to gold overhead, an electric guitar ripped through the air as Ogulu jump-kicked his way onto a carnival-inspired stage in a wide-collared, brilliant orange skirt-and-pant suit that Harry styles may well be asking to borrow. With the ring leader in place, a troupe of peppy cheerleaders, sparky marching drums and a brassy full band formed an unexpectedly Glee-club like picture behind him in a performance that featured major names from the UK rap scene, including fellow Nigerian Dave, and Stormzy, who arrived onstage via a rotating merry-go-round.

The celebratory energy buzzing through the crowd led to dancing in the aisles – which security guards half-heartedly attempted to stop, before joining in themselves. The energy was infectious, and when the backing vocalists delivered the line, “Every black person should remember that you were Africans before you became anything else,” the entire stadium held their fists high.

Ogulu has come a long way from Chelmsford. With a funky new track called Sittin’ on Top of the World released only the day before this gig, it’s clear he knows it too.