Africa plus magazine

By John Mosh Muchiri

Last Friday, April 18, saw Nigerian star Burna Boy make history by becoming the first African artist to sell out the Stade de France in Paris, France. The performance at the 100,000 capacity stadium, came barely a year after he did the same at the 80,000 capacity London Stadium, in London, United Kingdom, in last June.

In just a few months after announcing the concert date, Burna Boy and his team led by his mother and manager Bose Ogulu, managed to achieve this milestone that many artists in the Afrobeats scene can only dream of.

And true to his style, he did not disappoint as he gave an electrifying performance as the thousands of fans danced and sang along to his hits. To support his colleagues in the industry, Burna Boy also got some of them on stage during the performance.

They included Shallipopi, Youssou N’Dour, UK rapper Dave, his sister and singer Nissi, Fireboy DML, among others.

With tickets selling between £54 and £173, different sources estimate that he made an estimated £6.1 million, from just ticket sales. Produced by French artists management company Gerard Drouot Productions, it is still not clear how much will be Burna’s take home.

Burna Boy had a ‘rough’ end of last year, where he was beefing online with fellow Nigerian artist Davido’s close associate Pascal Okechukwu, better known as Cubana Chief Priest. At the same time in one of his end of year performances in Lagos, Nigeria, his fanbase did not take it very well when he kicked a fan on stage, ending his performance unceremoniously.

However, performance wise, his year started very well in Nairobi, Kenya, where he performed at the MadFun Xperience on March 1. His performance was well received by his Kenyan fans and did not receive any negative press in Nairobi, unlike in his past appearances in the East African city.

Burna Boy will be attempting to break yet another record in the United Kingdom on Monday, April 21, by becoming the first Afrobeats star to perform and sell out the 23,000 capacity Coop Live Arena in Manchester.

The Coop Live Arena is the largest indoor arena in the UK, followed by the AO Arena (21,000) still in Manchester, and the O2 Arena (20,000) in London.