Why Burna Boy’s album “Outside” is the best Nigerian album in 2018

The year 2018 was a remarkable year for some Nigerian musicians. Burna boy is not exception of it. Yes! In that year, Burna Boy reached maturity of his potentials, the year he really began to realize his immense skills. Though Davido and Wizkid continue to occupy the peak of Nigerian pop music, but few have managed to interrupt the duo that dominate the Nigerian pop music in a calendar.

Although, many never doubted how wonderful Burna Boy is, how much he wanted it. Before 2018, the singer's appetite for self-optimistic seemed insatiable and it seemed to him that it was enough to know when he would implode, not like that. Burna Boy has a background report from two countries that goes back to his teenage years. Then, when Burna became a superstar, it became immediately apparent that the whole bad boy issue was not just an image, but a reality.

The singer's journey to the dark side seemed to have arrived without a return ticket. But in the last year, Burna Boy has taken a spectacular U-turn and is now almost without problems. When his third album “Outside” was released in January 2018, the single “Heaven's Gate” was the immediate focal point of his collaboration with the British singer, Lily Allen had worked wonderfully and the brilliance of her performance left listeners captivated by the fear of his talent.

“Ye” of Burna Boy is the hottest Nigerian song of 2018. And no track approaches it. Few people realized that the real gem of the album was the song that followed it on the list, the Fela Kuti, inspired by “Ye”.

I remember attending a number of events during the Easter holidays in April, but especially at the Gidi Fest concert and the minute the first lines of “Ye” broke through the Platinum DJ, the immediate reaction of the crowd was a reaction that I had never imagined.

It was like a reinvigorated crowd, like people who had finally found the solution to Nigeria's biggest problem and who were all eager to chorus their conclusions with one voice. “Ye, Ye, Ye, Ye, Ye (…)” was the loud noise that tore the air, from the oldest to the youngest, everyone had plugged into the hymn and the atmosphere all over the place.

A few months later, as a number of other hit records were released and faded in a short time, ‘Ye‘ continues to grow. But while he may have recorded some songs that are “better” than “Ye”, there is no bigger one yet, and this single track is the anthem that propelled him to the place where the real success ones are and it really deserves all the congratulations and with what is undoubtedly the country's greatest song for 2018.

Another hit and Fans' Favourite is “Rock Your Body”, it is a dancehall/highlife track produced by Juls that takes you into the mood or just a party at home with the sea breeze whizzing through the windows. Burna also sings his admiration for a body lover's and asks the girl to meet him halfway so he can have some fun. He continues to explore his sensuality on “Devil in California”, an alternative to the R&B where he speaks of an intriguing love interest that makes him takes bad decisions.

At the end of the album, this introspection takes a more resigned tone. “Calm Down” is a soul with voices modulating the background. Burna testifies to the problems he faces and explains why he tries to overcome his polystyrene cup and lava them.

“Outside” is Burna's most personal project to date; a deeply revealing look at himself, as well as the fears and influences that made him such a divisive character. it has been so pretty with most striking tracks, from “Deja Vu”, “Streets Of Africa”, “Heaven's Gate”, “Ph City Vibration” and “Ye”. All these tracks stand out in 2018, making the album to be the best in 2018.

Written by: Collins N.
Twitter:  @degreat1