Once again, the African Giant has taken a stance against his supposed naysayers. This time, he took his grudges straight into the studio, forming the basis for his 7th album, I Told Them. While we get the message loud and clear, Burna Boy’s I Told Them may not be the masterpiece the fans hoped it would be.
From what seemed like a lucky twist of fate, Burna Boy garnered much attention for his hit single Ye, which most people mistook for Kanye West’s project, Ye. Yes, this may have played a massive role in the trajectory of the Afrobeats artist (oops, Afro-fusion artist).
But I believe it has also fueled his need to constantly refute the public’s general opinion that he happened to stumble upon fame. This is obviously far from the truth, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Let’s sneak peek at the past and the African Giant’s life before I Told Them.
From Outside To Love, Damini
Burna Boy’s third studio album, Outside, was one of the most remarkable projects in his career. It solidified his unique sound as one to be reckoned with and placed him in rooms of critical acclaim.
Following that considerable success was a widely controversial project, African Giant. While only a few could deny its authenticity, its failure to secure a Grammy Award made the Afrobeats (Afro-fusion, there I go again) star feel like he deserved more. This led to the making of Twice As Tall.
As one of my favorite projects from Burna Boy, Twice As Tall left a long-lasting impression on its listeners at home and abroad. Not only did it signify that the singer was who he said he was, but it also implied that he was here to stay. For the first time, the Grammys recognized this and gave him his flowers, leading to the birth of Love, Damini.
Love, Damini is one of the most sentimental projects we’ve gotten from the African Giant. With solid sound production, it featured sentiments from childhood, more international collaborations, and incredible vocal performances. It seemed his Grammy win had removed the need for self-assertion… until I Told Them.
Burna Boy’s I Told Them
In I Told Them, Burna Boy explores more unconventional blends of Afrobeats and Hip Hop. He introduces sounds reminiscent of 90s Hip Hop and fuses them with his unique sound. As we all know, Burna Boy’s music style leans towards Dancehall, Reggae, and, well, Afro-fusion, as he insists. Perhaps that may be the reason why the album sounded anything but cohesive.
The African Giant takes a unique storytelling approach on the album. He starts with the song I Told Them, Ft GZA, which certainly needs no introduction. If you have doubts about Burna Boy’s braggadocious efforts on the album, all it takes is the first few minutes of this song to clear your doubts.
This same pompous tone introduces us to Normal and On Form. These employ fewer Hip Hop elements and sound slightly like Afro-inclined Burna Boy. Don’t get me wrong, the Grammy-winning star sounds anything but humble on these two tracks. However, his remarkable delivery made it more bearable.
The next song on Burna Boy’s I Told Them is Sittin’ On Top Of The World Ft 21 Savage. Here, we see a genuine effort to try and sound as natural as possible in a track that screams 90’s Hip Hop. While I can applaud the effort, I must say it fell a little flat to me. Like I said when the song was first released, it sounds more like a 21 Savage song than Burna Boy’s.
Burna Boy takes a breather from patting his own back and explores a song with more sonic depth on Tested, Approved, and Trusted. This song shows Dancehall and pop explorations sitting on steady sound production. It follows through to Cheat On Me Ft Dave, a song that sounds far more compelling than his previous features.
On the following few tracks, we see a more vulnerable side of the African Giant. Besides the deep sense of self-reflection, it also gets personal. Here, Burna Boy gives touching tributes to the late creative genius Virgil and Sidhu Moose Wala, a late Indian rapper.
Virgil is an emotional piece that captures Virgil Abloh praising Burna Boy’s uncanny ability to relate to his audience through his songs. Big 7 follows through with a tribute to the creative with an equally catchy chorus. Because this song was released much earlier, I guess we can all sing along. “Been wavy since morning.”
On a different note, Burna Boy steers back to the album’s central message with Dey Play and City Boys. On one, the African Giant toots the horns on his literal material possessions, and the other praises his physical appearance. You know what they say about City Boys.
Giza Ft Seyi Vibez is a sonic explosion of log drums, whistles, and long, drawn-out flutes. It sounds profoundly cultural and different from the rest of the tracks, yet familiar.12 Jewels Ft RZA is an excerpt from his exclusive interview with RZA while Lying sounded like a failed effort to sound relatable and emotional. For some reason, I just couldn’t connect with it how I’m sure he intended.
I refer to the next song on Burna Boy’s I Told Them as the cusp of it all; Thanks, Ft J. Cole. Here, Burna Boy lets us peek into his mind to see why he needs to defend his art. “This Naija no love. Only Jah Knows where it started.”
He addresses the shooting allegations at Cubana, basically demands that we thank him for giving us Afro-fusion, and sounds eerily like a pained mother to her ungrateful kids. “..Is this the motherfucking thanks I get?”
Next up, J. Cole comes in with his verse that sounds like it should be anywhere else but on this track. I’m the biggest J.Cole fan you’ll find for miles, but I have to say, he was not the man for this job. In an effort to create a solid piece of work, Burna Boy’s verse somehow sounds detached from the beat, and J. Cole’s rap verse sounds like it should be playing in the next room, on a totally different beat. Yes, Burna Boy, we get it. You feel underappreciated. Message received, poorly delivered.
Finally, we get to see a bonus track of Burna Boy on Byron Messia’s Talibans II, which made it to our top picks at the time of its release. You can read all about it here.
Overall, I’d probably give this project a solid 5.5 and a shaky 6. In a bid to brag about his accomplishments, Burna Boy’s I Told Them falls short of a cohesive project.
It falls flat in several instances and stands on shaky grounds as regards leaning towards modern pop, 90s Hip Hop, Dancehall, or just plain, authentic Burna Boy as we know it. Somehow, it takes the focus away from the present time and takes us back to the preceding projects, which sounded much more balanced, cohesive, and, dare I say, less condescending.