Burna Boy is finally dropping his fifth studio album, “Twice as Tall” and expectations are high.
Burna Boy in the month of March was asked how he felt about losing his Grammy Nomination and he said that he felt sick but after Angelique Kidjo spoke to him, he said he became determined to do better and revealed he would be dropping a new album, “Twice as Tall” in July.
Fast Forward to July, no sign of the promised album or any news regarding it from Burna Boy and his team, the only reassurance fans got was the release of a new song, “Wonderful”.
Now, Burna Boy out of the blues dropped the announcement that the album would be dropping on the 14th of August.
#TWICEASTALL 14/08 🦍 pic.twitter.com/YOMdN1s2xL
— Burna Boy (@burnaboy) August 5, 2020
So here are the few things we know about the forthcoming album;
Diddy is the Executive Producer
Burna Boy would be the first Nigerian artist to have an American rap icon and music executive like Diddy become interested in his album.
During the Lockdown, Diddy had organized an Instagram Live show called Dance-a-thon which featured celebrities all around the globe, and Burna Boy was one of them.
It is probably how the two got working together. Diddy speaking to the New York times about the reason he joined the album said,
“I’m on record that I like hit records. If they’re not hit records, I don’t like them,”. He also gave his opinion on how he perceives Burna Boy,
“A lot of times when an artist wants to be coached or pushed to maybe a greater level, that’s where I’ve come in, He, as every artist, he wants his music to be heard by the world. He doesn’t care about crossing over. You know, he’s not trying to get hot. He’s not, like, ‘I want to be a big pop star’ — he’s already a star. He wants his music to be heard, his message, his people.”
His involvement did come with benefits like musical contributions including drums from American Singer/Producer Anderson .Paak and additional production from production legend Timbaland.
https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/1291278430366060545?s=20
Impressive Collaborations
Burna Boy is very specific about how he picks artists to feature on his song. Across the years, has done collaborations with artists like Wizkid, J Hus, Damian Marley, Angelique Kidjo, Zlatan, Lily Allen, Jeremiah, Serani amongst others.
On this album, Burna Boy took the decision to expand more with unusual but reasonable choices like Sauti Sol, Naughty by Nature, Chris Martins (Coldplay’s frontman), Youssou N’Dour.
The collaboration choices show that Burna Boy is probably after the Grammys again and this time, he is coming prepared.
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The Production Squad
Production is key in making music and for a highly anticipated album such s Twice as Tall, Burna Boy is going with trusted hands.
He in a tweet revealed that the album contains production works from Telz, LeriQ, JAE5, P2J , and even fast-rising producer, Rexxie is also involved in the album.
Don’t forget the American producer, Timbaland, and Anderson .Paak also lent a hand in the production courtesy of Diddy.
#ROCKETBOYS PRODUCTION SQUAD @OfficialLeriQ @_Telz 😭🔥 …….. @p2jmusic @JAE5_ @rexxiepondabeat #TAT
— Burna Boy (@burnaboy) August 6, 2020
The Songs
Thanks to The New York Times, we are able to get an insight into what to expect from the album. First of all, the album is made of 15 songs and each song carries a purpose with it.
In March before Burna had revealed the Twice as Tall news, he had previewed a song called “Level Up” on his Instagram Live. The song which was soulful had fans begging him to drop it. Though he didn’t, it seems like he would fulfilling their wish as it is expected to be part of the album from a tracklist that recently surfaced.
Most of the album was recorded during the pandemic and Diddy helped put finishing touches to them.
The album contains songs like the Foreboding “Alarm Clock”, the violence-ridden “Wetin dey Sup”, the Chris Martin assisted “Monsters you made” which tells of the repercussion of racism and slavery, the Triumphant “Level Up” where Burna sings of his achievements as a person.
The album according to the New York Times is where Burna Boy takes stock of his accomplishments and his vulnerabilities, and he encourages ambition and perseverance against long odds; he also parties. And he lashes out at racism, exploitation and widespread misconceptions about Africa.
The album also features an eclectic mix: Anderson .Paak’s drumming, a Diddy voice-over, Zulu choir singing, electronic dance music, alt-R&B, and the patterns of West African marimbas and Zimbabwean thumb pianos.
