Seun Kuti Criticizes Misattribution of Achievements to Burna Boy in Nigerian Music Industry

Grammy-nominated Afrobeat artist Seun Kuti expressed frustration that Burna Boy is often credited for achievements already attained by him and others in the Nigerian music industry.

He recalled that Burna Boy was widely reported as the first artist to perform at Coachella in 2020, despite Kuti having performed at the festival in 2012. Kuti also noted that before Burna Boy’s first Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album with “African Giant,” his elder brother Femi Kuti had received multiple nominations in the same category.

In an interview with The Public Republic, Kuti lamented that his album “Black Times” had been nominated for Best World Music Album years ago, but no African award organizer considered it for a nomination. He further expressed disappointment that despite earning another Grammy nomination for his contributions to Janelle Monae’s “Age of Pleasure,” which was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2024 Grammys, Nigerian media did not mention him among the Nigerian artists nominated for the 66th Grammys.

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“My brother Femi Kuti has been Grammy-nominated multiple times. They’ve nominated me, and I was also nominated in the last edition. The Nigerian media didn’t mention my name among the Nigerian artists nominated for the 66th Grammys. They do this every time, as if I’m not Nigerian,” he lamented.