Following the success of his Grammy Nominated album, African Giant, Burna Boy dropped another album, “Twice as Tall” on August 14, 2020.
‘Twice as tall’ which was birthed from Burna Boy’s loss at the 2019 Grammy Awards had Diddy as its executive producer alongside his mom, Bose Ogulu, and him.
The album has been making waves and breaking records, even having the highest-peaking number on Billboard 200 for a Nigerian Album.
Since its release, the album has received glowing praise for its political consciousness, introspection, gut-wrenching honesty and fascinating experimentation with sounds, some originally devised and others sampled from Burna’s musical influences.
The artists featured on the album include Sauti Sol, Naughty by nature, Youssou N’dour, Chris Martin (Coldplay).
If you found the collaborations impressive, wait till you get into the samples and influences that made the album such a solid piece of work.
Here are the Samples Burna Boy used in the making of the album.
Song; Naughty by Nature ft Naughty by Nature
Sample; Jamboree(1999) by Naughty by Nature ft Zhane
“Naughty by Nature” sees Burna Boy tells us about his mischievous and rebellious nature which he reveals has been like that for a long time.
This is also a double entendre since the music group “Naughty by Nature” is featured on the song. The first song Burna every fully memorized was by them and it was a childhood dream to have a song with them.
The song samples the 1999 “Jamboree” song by Naughty by Nature. The similarity is amazing and interesting to hear as Burna gives the usual upbeat song an Afrobeat feel. Maybe that’s why he declares himself an Afrofusion artist.
- SEE ALSO: Top 10 Favorite songs from Burna Boy
Song; Level up ft Youssou N’dour
Sample; Twice as Tall(1959) by Pat Boone
Level Up is the first single off the album, it features Senegalese singer, Youssou N’dour.
Burna samples Pat Boone’s 1959 Twice as Tall which plays as the intro before the song properly starts with Burna Boy’s vocals.
Song; Wetin Dey Sup
Sample; Nothing De Par(2006) by Rayan T, Kpakorokpa(2009) by Nigga raw ft Flavour
Wetin Dey Sup which is mostly sung in English and Pidgin samples Nothing De Par by Rayan T in the chorus and Kpakorokpa by Nigga Raw in the hook..
Song; Onyeka (Baby)
Sample; Loi(1997) by Koffi Olomide
In ‘Onyeka’ Burna goes the Afro Highlife route.
He samples a bit of Congolese Soukous singer, Koffi Olomide’s hit song, ‘Loi.’
Song; Time Flies ft Sauti Sol
Samples; The Sweetest Taboo(1985) by Sade, I Need You (2002) by Marc Anthony, Pass The Dutchie(1982) Musical Youths, Bottom Belle by Omowummi ft Flavour (2012), Jah People(1991) by Majek Fashek
Time Flies features the Popular Kenyan group, Sauti Sol.
The song samples British Singer, Sade’s popular hits song, “The Sweetest Taboo” at the beginning with its Drum Snares.
It then borrows Marc Anthony’s ‘I Need You’ vibe for its chorus. The song also samples from Musical Youth’s “Pass the Dutchie”.
A bit of OmaWummi’s ‘Bottom Belle’ can also be heard. The “Ayo, Ayo, Ayo” lyrics Burna keeps singing in the song is sampled from Late Reggae singer, Majek Fashek’s ‘Jah People”.
Song; Monsters You Made (Chris Martin)
Samples; Dirty Diana(1987) Micheal Jackson, Interview(1987) by Ama Ata Adoo, Boyloaf Interview(2009)
Arguably the best song from the album, ‘Monsters You Made’ is a political conscious song in which Burna tells leaders that people resisting against their rule is as a result of their longterm abuse of power and privilege.
The song features vocals from Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin.
The song samples a bit from Micheal Jackson’s ‘Dirty Diana’.
Song; Bebo
Samples; Gate Le Coin(1998) by Awilo Longomba,
Produced by Rexxie, Bebo has a Zanku like beat which is quite a signature to Rexxie who produced most of Zlatan and Naira Marley’s hit tracks.
On the chorus, Burna samples Awilo Longomba’s hit track, ‘Gate Le Coin’.