Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born July 2, 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is one of the biggest musicians in the Afrobeats genre. One of the best songwriters and singers on the African continent, Burna Boy has lived up to the hype with a huge record and countless laurels to his credit.

He is the 2021 winner of the Best World Music album Category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for his fifth studio album: Twice As Tall.

The music giant exploded into the scene in 2012 after being signed to Aristokrat Records and releasing the song, Like To Party, the first single for his debut album, L.I.F.E, which was released in 2013. Burna Boy is a three-time International Best Act at the BET Awards and the first Afrobeats performer to sell out Wembley arena (SSE arena), creator of Spaceship Entertainment and signed to Warner Music Group.

Burna Boy did what many of his predecessors couldn’t do in so many years, in a few years. In 2010 he broke into the music business and within two years clawed his way to the top, making a niche for himself as one of Nigeria’s fast-rising artists to watch out for.

The vocalist may not be as mainstream as Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade yet he undoubtedly has for all intents and purposes all that it takes to become great like these guys of greatness. Burna Boy has the voice, the skill, the abilities, the charm and a conquering soul that has moved them through many hurdles in business.

I suppose you do want to learn about this fast growing whiz and his music career. Here’s what you really need to be thinking about Burna Boy right now.

Burna Boy’s Early Life

Burnaboy whose real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, was born on the 2nd of July 1991 in Ahaoda, Rivers State, Nigeria into the family of Samuel Ogulu a welder and Bose Ogulu, a language translator. He is the first child and only son of Mr and Mrs Ogulu. Currently, he is 33 years old Burna Boy’s maternal grandpa, Benson Idonije, was Fela Kuti’s manager.

Burna boy had his primary education at the Montessori International Primary School, Port Harcourt and his intermediate education at the Corona intermediate School, Agbara, Ogun State.

Burna Boy moved to London to further his education at the University of Sussex where he studied Media technology from 2008 to 2009 then transferred to Oxford Brookes University in 2009 to study media communications and culture but eventually dropped out to pursue his music career.

Burna Boy came back to Nigeria after dropping out of school and joined an internship program at Rhythm 93.7 FM in Port Harcourt. After his one-year internship at Rhythm 93.7 FM, he traveled to Lagos state where he began his music career.

He has always had an interest in music since secondary school days. In secondary school he founded a music band and played in concerts. At that time, he used FuityLoops program from his classmates for his music production. Later Burna Boy’s struggle paid off and today he is one of the top musical voices in Africa.

Burna Boy’s Rise to Fame

As mentioned before, Burna Boy’s maternal grandpa Benson Idonije was Fela Kuti’s manager. This means Burna Boy was born into a music inclined family. He started singing at the age of 10 and sang in school concerts, but was not popular.

Burna boy became popular in the music industry in 2012 when he released the hit single ‘Like to Party’ off his debut album L.I.F.E when he was still signed to Aristokrat Records. They sold 40,000 copies of album L.I.F.E. on launch day. They also sold its marketing rights to Uba Pacific for N10 million.

Burnaboy was able to get other artist like M.I, Wizkid, Timaya, Olamide, 2face to feature on the album. L.I.F.E. was well received by music critics who noticed a likeness between Fela Kuti’s songs and L.I.F.E. The album also landed at number 7 on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart that year.

Burna boy started his career with Aristocrat Records. He signed in 2010 but departed in 2014. Burna Boy left Aristokrat Records eight months later and went on to establish his own record company, Spaceship Entertainment. Burna Boy has released several songs and albums through his record company.

Burna Boy dropped his second album, ‘On a Spaceship’ on the 25th of November, 2015. On the 26th of January 2018 he later released his 3rd studio album “Outside”.

Outside is a mixtape because it is a blend of Afro-beats, dancehall, reggae and road rap, Burna boy explained.Outside production from Leriq, Baba Stiltz, Jae 5, Juls, Chopstix, Steel Banglez, Fred Gibson, Phantom and FTSE. In February 2018, the album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.

On 21st March 2019, Burna Boy joined with Los Angeles-based electronic duo DJDS to create a 4-track EP called “Steel & Copper”.

In 2017, Burna Boy got a record deal with Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, an international record label based in the United States, to help spread his music across the world.

In 2017, Burna Boy also got a deal with Warner Music Group for global distribution after signing with Atlantic Records.

The record labels have been important to Burna Boy’s success in the music industry domestically and globally.

Net Worth

Burna Boy’s success in the music industry has presented him with the ability to earn a fortune from his career through royalties, brand partnership deals and performing at gigs.

His net worth reported to be about US$20 million to US$25 million.