“Inspired by Fela, Nigeria's Burna Boy blazes trail in the US

“Inspired by Fela, Nigeria's Burna Boy blazes trail in the US - ABC News” plus 1 more

Inspired by Fela, Nigeria's Burna Boy blazes trail in the US - ABC News

Posted: 20 Aug 2019 10:44 AM PDT

Burna Boy was only six years old when Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti passed away, but that was enough time for the future musician to be inspired.

"Everyone's got their hero," the 28-year-old Nigerian performer said. "For me, that's my hero."

Kuti — the Nigerian musical icon and political agitator whose life and legacy was portrayed in the wildly popular Broadway musical "Fela!" — was once managed by Burna Boy's grandfather, someone else he calls a hero.

With a direct line to African musical royalty, it might seem serendipitous that Burna Boy was hand-picked to participate in the soundtrack for one of 2019's most anticipated films, a story which follows the journey of a family — regal in their own right — that happened to be set in his home continent: "The Lion King."

But despite Beyoncé curating the album and the worldwide attention the film garnered, Burna Boy, whose real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, isn't feeling the pressure.

"Pressure is a man that is wondering how he's going to feed his five kids today," he said. "And I wasn't feeling that."

His song appears on "The Lion King: The Gift," which was inspired by the film and features several Beyoncé songs (the pop star voices the character Nala in the movie.) It's possible that many Americans hadn't heard of Burna Boy before his appearance on the soundtrack with his song "Ja Ara E," a Nigerian slang phrase that means to "wise up" or "use your head" — generally cautioning someone to avoid peer pressure. Queen Bey flew him to Los Angeles to record the song, although he admitted he didn't really have any interactions with her.

"It's 'Lion King' — it's something that we've all grown up with and something that I was very happy to do," he said.

But outside of the U.S., Burna Boy has been a very familiar face around the globe and on global music charts. July was a big month for the performer: A week after the Beyoncé album was released, he dropped his fourth album, "African Giant."

Claiming to have coined the term "Afro-Fusion," a genre that stitches together Caribbean influences, R&B and pop all threaded by Afrobeat, only a man with his confidence would give his album such a gargantuan title. But while he tapped popular figures such as Future, Jeremih and YG for his latest project, he's not setting out to chase western fame.

"One thing about America is Americans are real people. So it's like if they see that you're real, this is real, then they're gonna relate to it," he said.

More American eyes were centered on Burna Boy in June at the BET Awards, where he was named best international artist. His mother, who steers most of his career, provided one of the signature moments of the show when she appeared onstage to accept his award.

"The message from Burna, I believe, would be that every black person should please remember that you were Africans before you became anything else," said Bose Ogulu, who received a standing ovation from the audience.

Her words are also the last you hear on his album.

"I was getting a drink," Burna Boy said, explaining why he didn't go onstage to accept the honor. "She probably did a better job (than I would have)."

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Follow Gary Gerard Hamilton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/garyghamilton

Idris Elba Shares An Adorable Story About His Relationship With Beyoncé - BET

Posted: 01 Aug 2019 12:00 AM PDT

Idris Elba has been considered a massively respected Hollywood actor and heartthrob for a while now. However, it wasn't until just a few years ago that the Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw star felt "super famous," and this was partly thanks to an interaction her shared with his former co-star Beyoncé.

During the latest episode of the popular First We Feast food blog YouTube series Hot Ones, Elba explained that he felt like he was officially a part of the "cool club" when he hosted the Met Gala in 2016 and was greeted by the "Formation" superstar and a few other respected names in fashion and music.

"I had Lady GaGa coming up to me, Rihanna, Beyoncé, coming up to me, shaking my hand," he said. "I felt super famous. And [Met Gala co-chair and Vogue Editor-in-Chief] Anna Wintour — bless her heart — she championed me as someone who should host it."

While the people whose approval he seemed to appreciate the most greeted him warmly, the actor added that there were tons of others who had no idea who he was.

"Half the people didn't even know who I was," he added. "They're like, 'Who? Oh, OK, he was on The Wire. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My dad's seen that. It was great, apparently. Great.'"

Take a look at the clip, below:

Though Queen Bey's sweet gesture left a lasting impression on the star, this clearly wasn't their first interaction. In 2009, the two starred closely in the Fatal Attraction-inspired thriller Obsessed, playing husband and wife.

In fact, in a 2013 interview, Elba recalled their multiple kissing scenes in the movie and admitted it was a bit strange, as he has "a lot of respect" for Yoncé's hubby, Jay-Z.

"That was a bit weird," he said. "We did a lot of the kissing scenes on day one of filming... I guess it was an icebreaker."