Burna Boy has exploded into a global superstar over the past year and a half thanks in large part to the international acclaim of his hit single 'Last Last’.
The multi platinum single famously sampled Toni Braxton's 2000 single, ‘He Wasn't Man Enough’.
The Grammy Award winning afrobeats star sought to replicate that success when he used the same formula by sampling another huge US R&B hit single ‘Top of The World’ by Brandy and Mase for one of his latest singles, ‘Sittin’ On Top Of The World’.
Now, Burna looks set to sample yet another hit R&B record for an upcoming song titled ‘City Boy’ off his upcoming album, ‘I Told Them…’ which is due out on Friday.
“Burna Boy previews a new song titled ‘City Boy’ which samples Jeremih’s hit single ‘Birthday Sex’ 🔥,” shared @dailyloud.
Burna Boy previews a new song titled “City Boy” which samples Jeremih’s hit single “Birthday Sex” 🔥pic.twitter.com/rysLiI4SQ9
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) August 18, 2023
This immediately led to scrutiny as some criticised Burna for frequently sampling other people’s music. “The sampling is getting tired but this track does sound hot,” commented Sizwe Dhlomo.
Award winning South African music video director Ofentse Mwase came to the ‘On The Low’ hitmaker’s defence when he commented on Dhlomo’s post: “AKA sampled for 12 Years straight. Burna does it twice and everyone’s mad!”
AKA sampled for 12 Years straight. Burna does it twice and everyone’s mad! pic.twitter.com/g9oSH6wpUW
— 𝗢𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀𝗲 𝗠𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗲 🔥🚀 (@unclescrooch) August 19, 2023
The Kaya FM radio host fired back by accusing Mwase of not being familiar with Burna’s catalogue, which includes several samples over the years. “Just say you’re not familiar with Burna’s catalogue. It’s way more than twice.”
Chris Excel also weighed in with a post of a video that shows several songs where Burna remixed legendary afrobeat star Fela Kuti’s music over the years. “Please respect AKA Burna boy is shameless,” she said.
Please respect AKA Burna boy is shameless pic.twitter.com/GbSveQhnd7 https://t.co/cLdNt9UdvD
— ChrisExcel (@ChrisExcel102) August 19, 2023