6 Times Burna Boy Showed No Sign Of Weakness

As Burna Boy prepares to release his highly anticipated album No Sign of Weakness, one can’t help but feel the title itself serves as an emphatic statement and summary of his incredible rise. Coming off the highly successful I Told Them and the Grammy-nominated single Higher, Odogwu’s upcoming seventh studio album promises to be another glossy addition to his admirable musical legacy. 

If I Told Them was Burna Boy’s victory lap after years of telling people who he would be, No Sign of Weakness is the confirmation that his triumph is a product of his unrelenting spirit and resolute refusal to bend. Burna Boy’s career has been defined by moments where weakness may have been the easier path. Yet, in typical Burna Boy fashion, he chose defiance. From industry dismissal to government opposition, Damini Ogulu has repeatedly proved that pressure doesn’t break him—it only makes the African giant stronger.

The Coachella Tiny Font Fiasco

In January 2019, when Coachella announced its lineup with Burna Boy’s name buried in microscopic font a reflection of his status at the time, nobody would have criticized Burna if he had quietly accepted the slight as the price of American exposure. Instead, Burna Boy publicly refused to be diminished, declaring on Instagram: “I am an AFRICAN GIANT and will not be reduced to whatever that tiny writing means. Fix things quick please.”

During his infamous appearance on The Daily Show, Trevor Noah asked about the incident, where Burna elaborated: “Everyone comes to me and is like, ‘Yo, congratulations! You’re playing Coachella.’ And I’m like, ‘We’ve been selling out stadiums in Africa. What do you mean ‘congratulations’?’“

He channeled that energy into his magnum opus, African Giant. He unapologetically revealed and celebrated his Pan-Africanism and identity while going on to cement his place as a force in global music. The album featured heavyweight collaborations with Damian Marley, Jorja Smith, YG, Future, and Jeremih.

What could have been career suicide for many artists became the defining moment of Burna’s career and a power move that ultimately inspired his international breakthrough. When Coachella gave him a tiny font, he made a Grammy-nominated album.

The Grammy Redemption arc

After losing the 2020 Grammy for Best World Music Album to Angelique Kidjo, many artists would have been crushed. 

Not Burna. Rather than sulking about the loss, the African Giant immediately went to work and triumphantly returned with Twice As Tall, a strategically crafted album that maintained his Pan-African identity and ideals while enhancing his global appeal. 

The gamble paid off when he won the 2021 Grammy for Best Global Music Album. In his acceptance speech, he addressed African children directly: No matter where you are, no matter what it looks like, you can be whatever you want to be. 

When he finally won in 2021, it wasn’t luck; it was resilience.

READ MORE: Burna Boy: Why Stage Crashing Needs To Stop In The Afrobeats Ecosystem

Monsters You Made

In a music landscape where artists often shy away from making emphatic political statements, Burna Boy created Monsters You Made with Chris Martin – a scathing critique of colonial powers and corrupt African leadership. It wasn’t just hard-hitting lyrically; it was a bold career move that showed Burna wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power despite his rising global profile, Burna directly addressed centuries of colonial exploitation with lyrics like: You know we come from a place/Where people smile but it’s fake/How could they smile when they’re living on a corpse?

During his infamous performance of the record at the 15th annual BET Hip Hop Awards, Burna Boy sang in front of protest footage while his band wore shirts that read #StopPoliceBrutality, once again calling for an end to police brutality. The performance was followed by a list of innocent Nigerians killed by officers of the SARS unit of the Nigerian police. 

Monsters You Made is a resounding reminder of Africa’s dark colonial history and its ever-present consequences as well as the urgency with which change needs to happen.

Standing Tall on 20-10-20

When the Lekki Toll Gate massacre occurred during Nigeria’s EndSARS protests, Burna Boy used his music to amplify the voices of victims. While other celebrities showed “solidarity” on Twitter and moved on, Burna created 20-10-20, a raw, emotionally charged single that documents the tragedy. In a country where speaking against the government has serious consequences, this wasn’t just art; it was courage.

20-10-20 is a haunting memorial of a dark day in Nigeria’s recent history, one that the Nigerian government has continuously refused to acknowledge. Burna’s chilling chronicling of events will ensure that the story of that event will live forever. His raw and honest lyrics serve as a historical document as well as an indictment of the government of the day. By preserving the truth of the Lekki Toll Gate massacre even when government officials have consistently crafted narratives in a bid to erase it, this song is a testament to the fact that a musician’s voice echoes longer through history than the voices of those who were in power.

Another Story: Educating Through Music

The introduction to Another Story featuring M.anifest opens with a history lesson about Nigeria’s colonial past as Burna Boy revealed a little-known transaction between the British Empire and the Royal Niger Company—now known as Unilever—which led to the purchase of the entity known as Nigeria. Educating his audience on the economic origins of Nigeria was Burna Boy simply doing what Nigeria’s educational system failed to do, prompting young Nigerians with functional brains to question colonial narratives that had been fed to us as truth.

The song is one of his most critically acclaimed works and is a masterclass in how pop music can carry profound historical weight without sacrificing musicality.

READ MORE: Burna Boy And Drake To Perform At The 2025 Wireless Festival In London

Selling Out London Stadium, TWICE

When Burna Boy became the first African artist to headline and sell out the 80,000-capacity London Stadium in 2023, it wasn’t just a concert – it was a statement. With his headline performance at the London Stadium, Burna Boy set the pace as the artist leading the international push of Afrobeats. But Odogwu wasn’t done making history. In true African Giant fashion, he returned to sell it out AGAIN in 2024. Back-to-back stadium sellouts is a feat few global artists can claim. The same industry that once relegated him to tiny fonts was now watching him make history. The journey from club performer to stadium headliner represented years of refusing to compromise his sound or identity. 

Selling out the same stadium twice in consecutive years isn’t just unprecedented for an African artist—it’s rare for any artist. What Burna Boy accomplished wasn’t just breaking through a ceiling; it was building a new house on top of it.

In Conclusion…

Burna Boy’s journey to his forthcoming No Sign of Weakness album is a series of career highlights and a lesson in turning potential breaking points into career-defining moments. In an industry designed to break spirits, Burna Boy has consistently turned obstacles into stepping stones.

His new album arrives at a moment when he has transitioned from being Africa’s musical ambassador to being one of global music’s mostrecognizable voices. He doesn’t need to prove anything anymore. He’s just showing the world what a real African Giant does when he’s conquered the it. No Sign of Weakness isn’t just an album title; it’s the perfect summary of Burna Boy’s defiant legacy.