For reasons best known to Burna Boy, he
calls his sixth project, Outside a mixtape. It
isn’t wise to get hung up on names and
titles but labeling Outside a mixtape feels
like some kind of disservice. Structurally
and thematically, Outside plays like a
studio album. It feels like one too. To
boot, Outside is the best thing Burna Boy
has done in a very long while, maybe his entire
career.
A couple of singles predate Outside but the
crown jewel of them is undoubtedly,
Heaven’s Gate , a stunning duet with British
Grammy nominated singer, Lily Allen that
sounds like nothing else on radio. Heaven’s
Gate which appears midway into Outside is
a burst of rapid machine gun fire that starts
out with Burna Boy in menacing vocal form
where he unleashes words and rhymes
from some scary but exciting place within.
He lets up briefly mid stride but picks up
shortly after and powers the patios
drenched record to a stunning conclusion.
After the controversy that trailed Burna
Boy’s collaboration with Canadian hitmaker
Drake, he reclaims More Life, one of the
five tracks reportedly submitted to Drake
and opens the record with the mid-paced
ode to taking a back seat and letting life
just roll by. It is a curious choice for an
album opener but thankfully Outside has far
richer pleasures to offer. The Juls produced
Rock your body also predates Outside and
borrows (not so) subtly from previous
Burna Boy anthems like Run my race and
Like to party, moving at a leisurely pace but
packing a mean punch.
Growing up in Port Harcourt city has armed
Burna Boy with stories for days and he
opens his memory bank in the aptly titled
PH City vibrations to unspool interesting
anecdotes of catching vibes, filling up on
boli and fish and yam and frequenting
police stations. Atmospheric yet
compulsively danceable, PH City vibrations
makes for a worthy addition to the Port
Harcourt city discography which
incidentally, is not growin as fast as it
could be.
The sound on Outside is a rich and viable
mix of genres that have inspired Burna Boy
as well as those he has picked up along
his musical journey. While the record
sounds familiar at times with elements of
afrobeats, dancehall and reggae, it
occasionally deviates from these lived in
realism and strays into grime and hip-hop
territory, by way of R&B.
Each song tells its own story and serves a
purpose, leaving no room for waste or
excess. Tightly controlled at a responsible
twelve tracks, Outside is a fiery example of
the depths that Burna Boy is capable of but
doesn’t always deliver. Hopefully, a
publishing deal with Universal Music group
helps harness the wild talent.
Outside also houses the blessing and curse
of single, Ye which while instinctively
calling to mind Kanye West, has also been
responsible for diverting eyes and ears
Burna’s way. Ye , a grandchild of Fela’s
Sorrow, Tears and Blood maintains a
haunting slow burn throughout its run,
decrying complacency amongst the masses
of poorly governed citizens who really
should have had enough by now.
Streets of Africa which seems manufactured
for a growing foreign audience, complete
with lyrics , I’m Fela Kuti with the hoes,
rides a nursery rhyme like rhythm to project
a near-balanced graph of his roots, as well
as a snapshot of his huge ego. Gems like
Devil in California and Giddem display not
only solid vocal chops but stellar
songwriting and a curiosity towards sounds
from other sides.
The eclectic mix that Burna Boy cobbles
together on Outside could easily have gone
south but his investment in and control of
the material makes it a pleasurable ride
and one of the finest records put out this
year. It is hard to point to a phase where
Burna Boy has been better than he is on
Outside .
calls his sixth project, Outside a mixtape. It
isn’t wise to get hung up on names and
titles but labeling Outside a mixtape feels
like some kind of disservice. Structurally
and thematically, Outside plays like a
studio album. It feels like one too. To
boot, Outside is the best thing Burna Boy
has done in a very long while, maybe his entire
career.
A couple of singles predate Outside but the
crown jewel of them is undoubtedly,
Heaven’s Gate , a stunning duet with British
Grammy nominated singer, Lily Allen that
sounds like nothing else on radio. Heaven’s
Gate which appears midway into Outside is
a burst of rapid machine gun fire that starts
out with Burna Boy in menacing vocal form
where he unleashes words and rhymes
from some scary but exciting place within.
He lets up briefly mid stride but picks up
shortly after and powers the patios
drenched record to a stunning conclusion.
After the controversy that trailed Burna
Boy’s collaboration with Canadian hitmaker
Drake, he reclaims More Life, one of the
five tracks reportedly submitted to Drake
and opens the record with the mid-paced
ode to taking a back seat and letting life
just roll by. It is a curious choice for an
album opener but thankfully Outside has far
richer pleasures to offer. The Juls produced
Rock your body also predates Outside and
borrows (not so) subtly from previous
Burna Boy anthems like Run my race and
Like to party, moving at a leisurely pace but
packing a mean punch.
Growing up in Port Harcourt city has armed
Burna Boy with stories for days and he
opens his memory bank in the aptly titled
PH City vibrations to unspool interesting
anecdotes of catching vibes, filling up on
boli and fish and yam and frequenting
police stations. Atmospheric yet
compulsively danceable, PH City vibrations
makes for a worthy addition to the Port
Harcourt city discography which
incidentally, is not growin as fast as it
could be.
The sound on Outside is a rich and viable
mix of genres that have inspired Burna Boy
as well as those he has picked up along
his musical journey. While the record
sounds familiar at times with elements of
afrobeats, dancehall and reggae, it
occasionally deviates from these lived in
realism and strays into grime and hip-hop
territory, by way of R&B.
Each song tells its own story and serves a
purpose, leaving no room for waste or
excess. Tightly controlled at a responsible
twelve tracks, Outside is a fiery example of
the depths that Burna Boy is capable of but
doesn’t always deliver. Hopefully, a
publishing deal with Universal Music group
helps harness the wild talent.
Outside also houses the blessing and curse
of single, Ye which while instinctively
calling to mind Kanye West, has also been
responsible for diverting eyes and ears
Burna’s way. Ye , a grandchild of Fela’s
Sorrow, Tears and Blood maintains a
haunting slow burn throughout its run,
decrying complacency amongst the masses
of poorly governed citizens who really
should have had enough by now.
Streets of Africa which seems manufactured
for a growing foreign audience, complete
with lyrics , I’m Fela Kuti with the hoes,
rides a nursery rhyme like rhythm to project
a near-balanced graph of his roots, as well
as a snapshot of his huge ego. Gems like
Devil in California and Giddem display not
only solid vocal chops but stellar
songwriting and a curiosity towards sounds
from other sides.
The eclectic mix that Burna Boy cobbles
together on Outside could easily have gone
south but his investment in and control of
the material makes it a pleasurable ride
and one of the finest records put out this
year. It is hard to point to a phase where
Burna Boy has been better than he is on
Outside .
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