Sizwe Sibiya
Love, Damini
Damini Ogulu, famously known by his stage name Burna Boy, has done some soul-searching in his new album, titled Love, Damini.
Over 19 tracks, the Afrobeats superstar finds that despite the riches and fame he has achieved over his career, he is still trying to find himself.
This is the overall feeling that comes across in the Nigerian artist’s sixth studio album, but it is summed up in the album’s title song, “Love, Damini”, which features Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
The album includes the multi-Grammy Award-winning Isicathamiya group despite Burna Boy’s promise not to visit South Africa again as long as xenophobia remains a prominent issue here. The group also joins in on the album’s first track, titled “Glory”.
“There’s things that I hardly say, how you been mama? How’s your day?” Burna Boy reflects in a deeply personal track.
“I should talk to my granddaddy more before it’s too late,” he sings. The lack of a backing track at the beginning of the song is uncharacteristic for this vibrant artist and brings his emotions to the fore.
Having already dropped two music videos for two of the album’s singles, “Vanilla” and “For My Hand” featuring Ed Sheeran, Burna Boy is well placed to get yet more Grammy nominations under his belt.
With his 2019 fourth studio album African Giant, Burna Boy got nominated for a Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
But it was not until he dropped his first studio album Twice as Tall in August 2020 that he took home the Best World Music Album award at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021.
“Whenever I’m broken you make me feel whole, whenever I’m lonely, you there for my soul,” sings Burna Boy in the “For My Hand” music video.
He’s standing in an open elevator, where he is later joined by Ed Sheeran, with the door opening and closing throughout the music video.
Love, Damini was released on Friday 8 July along with accompanying music videos, with 16 songs from the album already taking up every single one of the top 16 places on Nigeria’s top 100 songs on iTunes. “Cloak and Dagger” featuring British rapper, J Hus, is at the top of the charts.
Video source: YouTube
