Grammy-nominated Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti has expressed frustration over what he perceives as the Nigerian media’s tendency to credit Burna Boy for achievements he and others in the industry have accomplished.
Kuti recalled that Burna Boy was widely reported as the first Nigerian artist to perform at Coachella in 2020, despite Kuti having played at the festival in 2012. He also pointed out that before Burna Boy’s Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album with African Giant, his elder brother, Femi Kuti, had already received multiple nominations in the same category.
In a recent interview with The Public Republic, Kuti lamented that his album Black Times was nominated for Best World Music Album years ago, but it was not recognized by African award organizers. He added that despite earning another Grammy nomination for his contributions to Janelle Monáe’s Age of Pleasure, which was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2024 Grammys, the media failed to acknowledge his nomination among the Nigerian artists nominated for the 66th Grammys.
“My brother [Femi Kuti] has been nominated at the Grammys multiple times. They’ve nominated me, I was also nominated in the last edition. It was only my name that they [Nigerian media] didn’t mention among the Nigerian artists who were nominated for the 66th Grammys. That’s what they do every time as if I’m from Togo.
“That’s how they said Burna Boy was the first Nigerian artiste to play in Coachella in 2020 where me I’ve played in 2012 as if I’m from Togo,” he lamented.
