During a recent live stream, DJ Akademiks made a bold assertion that Burna Boy‘s global reach matches that of Drake’s when it comes to selling out massive venues. Moreover, he went on to state that the Nigerian Afrobeat sensation outshines even J. Cole in this regard.
“Low key, Burna Boy is closer to Drake in tours than pretty much any hip hop artist,” said Akademiks. “It would be surprising to people who only like stay and care about the US market… I think a Burna Boy tour will sell comparable to a J. Cole tour. 100%”
Another individual present in the studio sought clarification whether Akademiks’ assertion was limited to North America or encompassed the international arena. In response, AK emphatically declared, “internationally he’s shittin’ on [J. Cole]. Internationally he’s completely shitting on that n-gga,” he reiterated.
While this may come as a surprise to many, Burna Boy is undeniably one of the biggest Afrobeats stars in the world. He has consistently sold out major arenas across North America and Europe. Most notably, the African Giant sold out the 80,000-capacity London Stadium in June, becoming the first African artist to solo headline a stadium in the United Kingdom.
Prior to that, Burna Boy made history by becoming the inaugural African artist to perform at the UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show, presented by Pepsi. The singer took the stage at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, in front of more than 71,412 supporters and an audience of over 700 million people.
Interestingly, AK’s comments comes just days after Hot 97 on air personality Ebro Darden claimed on the app now known as X that major record labels are diverting their focus away from signing rappers and are instead shifting their attention toward Afrobeats and Latin music.
“I got a call saying ‘It should be noted many major record labels have deprioritized signing Rappers’,” Ebro wrote. “The focus is now African Music & Latin Music. Rappers better stop being boring and talking about the same sh*t over and over, chasing TikTok success and comment sections.”
Afrobeats, Latin pop, and reggaeton are some of the genres that have surged in popularity over the past few years. The genre is being fueled by artists like Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Tems, and Rema, who released some massively popular singles over the past few years.
Continuing to ignite excitement, Burna Boy has announced his seventh album ‘I Told Them…’, the follow up to 2022’s Love, Damini is set to be released on August 25th
As for J. Cole, the Fayetteville rapper was last seen on stage with Drake.
What do you think of AK’s remarks?
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