Foreign / Music / News

Burna Boy becomes the first-ever Nigerian to sell out the Madison Square Garden in New York

Grammy Award-winning Afro-fusion pioneer, Burna Boy has officially become, not just the first Nigerian artist to headline at the Madison Square Garden (MSG), New York, but also the first to sell it out when he live-streams his wildly anticipated “One Night In Space” show at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden on April 28th, 2022 at 9:00 pm ET, exclusively on YouTube. This massive win for Burna Boy and the entire African continent goes to buttress his point in the lyrics of ‘Way too Big’ when he sang “Because I’m way too big”. It’s clear he wasn’t joking. Featured as a guest on the American Talk show “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”,

Burna Boy left everyone including Trevor himself, in stitches with his naturalness and authenticity — a teaser of what to expect at the MSG. Burna Boy — who has also revealed that an exclusive limited line of merch will be made available to commemorate this historic event as the first Nigerian musician to ever headline the world-renowned venue — promises a classic fusion of elements and themes combined with his explosive energy and the true spirit of New York City, which will culminate into an unforgettable night in New York City.

This ‘One Night In Space’ showcase follows Burna Boy’s recently sold-out debut at LA’s The Hollywood Bowl, electrifying performances at 2021 Global Citizen Festival and The Governor’s Ball, as well as sold-out international shows at London’s O2 Arena, Paris’ Accor Arena, Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome and more venues around the globe, as part of his 2021 Space Drift tour which echoes the sounds from his groundbreaking fifth studio album TWICE AS TALL — an immediate sensation, earning more than 5M worldwide streams within its first hour of release.

Fueled by such singles as “Wonderful,” “Monsters You Made (Feat. Chris Martin), “Real Life (Feat. Stormzy),” and “23,” TWICE AS TALL – which features additional collaborations with Youssou N’Dour, Sauti Sol, and Naughty by Nature – debuted at #1 on Billboard’s “US World Albums” chart …

Entertainment / Music / News

Burna Boy narrates how he produced the ‘Twice As Tall’ album on Zoom

Last night, the African Giant, who recently sold out Madison Square Garden, appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, where he discussed his journey since their last conversation, as well as how he was able to produce his Grammy award-winning album.

Burna Boy performed at the show two years ago, shortly after the release of his fourth studio album, ‘African Giant.’ Returning to the show last night, Burna Boy discussed how he was able to put together a Grammy award-winning album during the lockdown.

See full video to his interview;

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Music / News

Burna Boy says he will not release an album till further notice

On September 18, 2021, Grammy-winning Nigerian superstar, Burna Boy took to his Instagram stories to break many fans’ hearts. He announced that he will not release an album this year.

On his Instagram stories, he wrote that, “I might decide not to drop an album for a long time. In fact, you know what, no album till further notice.”

In April 2021, Pulse Nigeria reported that Burna Boy teased an August 2021 release for his new album. But having released two singles, ‘Kilometre‘ and ‘Question‘ with Don Jazzy in 2021, he looks to have shelved those plans.

A year without an album release would be Burna Boy’s first since 2017. In the last three years, he has released Outside, African Giant and Twice As Tall, which dropped in August 2020.

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Entertainment / Music / News

Here are the top 7 positions of Nigerian albums on the Billboard 200

With it, Burna Boy created a new peak for Nigerian artists on the same charts. However, on September 6, 2021, Wizkid’s ‘Made In Lagos’ overhauled all before it and charted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200.

This then got Pulse Nigeria asking; what are the other Nigerian albums to have charted on the Billboard 200? We were able to find five and here they are;

7.) Davido – A Better Time

Year of release: 2020

Label: Columbia Records/Sony

Weeks on the chart: 1

Peak: 170 [November 27, 2020]

A sequel to Davido’s A Good Time, A Better Timefollowed a year of heavyweight album releases by Nigerian superstars and it entered the charts. It also became Davido’s only appearance on the chart.

6.) Sunny Ade – Juju Music

Year of release: 1982

Label: Mango/Island Records

Weeks on the chart: 29

Peak: 111 [September 17, 1983]

When the album was released, it was described by The New York Times as the week’s best new dance music. At the time, Sunny Ade was two years away from being touted to be the replacement for Bob Marley.

5.) WIzkid – Sounds From The Other Side

Year of release: 2017

Label: Starboy/RCA UK

Weeks on the chart: 1

Peak: 107 [August 5, 2017]

Wizkid‘s crossover had been given a massive jolt by his production, writing and feature credits of Drake‘s 2016 No. 1 single, ‘One Dance.’ Thus Wizkid immediately followed it up with an album that was called an EP at the time. The crossover didn’t quite pan out as we’d hoped but we will always have this moment.

4.) Burna Boy – African Giant

Year of release: 2019

Label: Spaceship/Bad Habit/Atlantic/Warner

Weeks on the chart: 1

Peak position: 104 [August 10, 2019]

In 2019, Burna Boy quickly followed his well-received Outside album with African Giant –

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