Burna Boy has announced a headline show at Manchester’s Co-op Live next April

Don’t be Last Last, be first – tickets on sale now >> https://t.co/hdPnmiI3F3 pic.twitter.com/WoyP7wHJX2

— ticketmasteruk (@TicketmasterUK) December 20, 2024

This announcement follows Burna Boy’s historic performances, including being the first African artist to headline a UK stadium at London Stadium in June 2023. He returned to the same venue on June 29, 2024, as part of his ‘I Told Them…’ tour, delivering electrifying performances with guest appearances from artists like Stormzy, Dave, and J Hus.

Tickets for upcoming concert went on general sale on December 20, 2024. Premium packages, including VIP experiences, are available through Seat Unique, the presenting partner for this event. These packages offer various exclusive amenities, such as access to VIP lounges, premium seating, and pre and post-show events.

Burna Boy has previously collaborated with the British singer Lily Allen on the track ‘Heaven’s Gate’ from his 2018 album ‘Outside’. The song blends Afrobeat with reggae influences, creating a unique sound that highlights both artists’ versatility.

Additionally, Lily Allen invited Burna Boy to collaborate on her ‘Your Choice’ song from her 2018 album ‘No Shame’. No Shame marked a significant moment in Lily Allen’s career as a deeply personal and introspective album. In ‘Your Choice’, Allen reflects on her personal experiences, including the end of her marriage and her struggles with substance abuse. These collaborations broadened Burna Boy’s presence in the UK music scene.

In addition to Burna Boy’s live performances, he has been active in the studio. He announced his eighth studio album, ‘No Sign Of Weakness’, set for release in 2025, and recently released a new single titled ‘Bundle By Bundle’. Burna Boy uses the song to flaunt his achievements while embracing the carefree, celebratory essence of Nigerian street culture. The song features the classic rhythmic patterns of Afrobeats, Burna Boy’s usual style. 

Given Burna Boy’s reputation for dynamic performances and the exclusivity of this UK arena show, it’s advisable to secure tickets promptly to avoid disappointment. Tickets can be found on Ticketmaster and DICE.

Hailing from South London, the producer and multi-instrumentalist has been contributing his beautifully nostalgic and smooth brand of saxophone playing to a growing list of highly prominent artists around the globe for a while now. Having laid down some emotive riffage on “Alarm Clock” from Burna Boy’s Grammy Winning Album Twice As Tall in 2020, and also contributed to Wizkid’s “Starboy” and Beyonce’s “Ja Ara E”, Venna has become a hot ticket to collaborate with in the studio and fast become one of the most sought after producers and sax players in town.

With the release of his debut EP Venology though, Venna steps out on his own with a brand new solo project. The EP, put out by Hillside Records, is a collection of 6 songs the artist has written and produced himself with collaborations from the popular rapper Knucks, producer Marco Bernadis, and artists JVCK JAMES, JADA, and emil. It’s a wonderfully eclectic mix of jazz, hip hop, grime, and R&B, with Venna’s sax sounding throughout to create a warm and idiosyncratic world all of his own.

Speaking recently about his ambitions for the EP with NME, Venna said “I wanted this to be the biggest thing ever. I wanted the music to touch as many people as it could. Not in an arrogant way, but I know how special the music is. Before then, I’d worked with loads of people, and I appreciate everyone who’s brought me in and helped me get to where I am now, but there’s nothing more rewarding than finally doing it for yourself.”

Going on to explain his plans for 2022 and his recent collaboration’s with Yussef Dayes he explained “I’m running around the world with Yussef right now, which is a dream. We’re touring Australia, then New Zealand. His album’s coming out as well, and we’ve worked hard on it. And just my next project… I think I’ve got the track list, but I change things a lot. I’m very picky with my music. Anything I’m heavily involved in, I take my time. But I try not to put too much pressure on it. I am music, so music’s gonna come to me regardless. I don’t even stress about it no more.”

It seems like going with the flow is Venna’s style both in his productions for other artists and for his own solo project, and judging by his recent success we don’t blame him. An artist full of originality and honest authenticity I’m sure this laid back and grateful attitude will take him a long way, and we here at MXDWN UK are all to happy to witness it.

American rapper Megan Thee Stallion, Nigerian singer Burna Boy and US artist Doja Cat are all set to join the already star-studded line-up, with headliners including the likes of Tyler, the Creator, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. If you want to see a full list of the line-up, you can go to the festival’s website here.

The festival will take place across three different venues; London’s Crystal Palace Park, Finsbury Park and Birmingham’s NEC, the latter of which was last involved with the festival back in 2014. Artist ASAP Rocky is set to start things off at Crystal Palace Park, and it’s an especially significant event for his UK fans, what with it being his first concert in the country for six whole years.

Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and SZA will be headlining the following week at Finsbury Park, with a historic all-female line-up taking place. It will also be a significant moment for SZA, being her first-ever UK headline festival appearance.

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Other significant artists making an appearance include British rapper Dave, who recently was awarded Best Hip Hop/ Grime/ Rap Act at the 2022 BRIT Awards. Despite Storm Eunice forcing him to make some changes to his touring schedule, he should be back in the full swing of things this July when he headlines at the Birmingham NEC. Last year, the headlining acts included the likes of Future, Skepta and Migos.

If you can’t make it to any of the shows, no worries; the BBC has you covered. BBC Radio 1Xtra will be airing the performances, as well as giving us exclusive interviews, so you’ll be getting the best of both worlds either way. Some of the station’s DJs will also be given the opportunity to host stages and perform their own sets across the festival’s duration. It’s the first time Wireless Festival has worked with the station, but we can hope it’s a promising sign of things to come.

If you’re interested in getting tickets, best act fast. They’ve gone on sale today already, having started at noon, but you can get there quick by following this link.

This year’s Global Citizen Live will take place in Rio de Janerio, London, Seoul, Los Angles, Sydney, Lagos, France’s capital city Paris and US city New York City and will include various artist’s live performances as well as pre-recorded sets. The worldwide concert aims to promote unity whilst rallying citizens of the world to urge major conglobates, governments and politicians as well as philanthropists to band together to help the world’s poverty-stricken communities and help rectify the recent global issues.

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The global event has been dated to take place this September to match with the UN General Assembly which is also taking place this September. Global Citizen Live will also coincide with other important meetings and summits including the G20 and COP26 set to take later on in 2021. Each act performing will be taking part in a 24-hour historic musical event, the concerts will be aired over many broadcasted mediums including ABC, ABC News Live, BBC, FX, IHeartRadio, Hulu, YouTube, TIME, Twitter as well as many more social media and televised channels.

Ed Sheeran will join the impressive list of artists billed to perform in Paris, joining the ‘Shape of You’ singer are hitmakers Black Eyed Peas, H.E.R., Dj Snake, Christine and the Queens and ‘Kiss Me More’ singer Doja Cat.  The line-up featured in Lagos include musician Femi Kuti, singer-songwriter Davido, Made Kuti and MTV Europe music award winner Tiwa Savage.

New York City’s event will take place at the famous landmark, Central Park, Global Citizen has been hosting events at the famed landmark since 2012. Performing at the city’s venue includes a vast array of artists such as ‘Bad Guy’ singer Billie Eilish and former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello. Also included to play the city that never sleeps are British hitmakers Coldplay, legendary artist Jennifer Lopez, ‘Good as Hell’ singer Lizzo, Shawn Mendes and rapper Meek Mill. New York City’s event will also see performances by special guests Burna Boy and Lang Lang, also set to take the stage at Central Park is 80’s pop icon Cyndi Lauper, known for her ‘Girl’s Just Want To Have Fun’ mega-hit.

Other artists donating themselves to the cause include Queen + Adam Lambert singer Adam Lambert, Alessia Cara, Opera tenor singer Andrea Bocelli, Angélique Kidjo, BTS, Demi Lovato, legendary 80’s band Duran Duran, iconic punk rockers Green Day, Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness, Jon Batiste, Country music artist Keith Urban, ‘Royals’ singer-songwriter Lorde, The Lumineers, thrash metal pioneers Metallica, Rag ‘ n’ Bone Man, Ricky Martin, The Weeknd and Usher with even more acts to be announced.

Global Citizen’s Head of Music, Entertainment and Artist Relations, Katie Hill, has provided the following statement describing the organisation’s mission statement whilst expressing the organisation’s excitement to work with the host of artists. “Over the last year and a half, we’ve seen music bring communities together and inspire action during one of the most challenging times of our generation, We’re excited to join these incredible artists to unite people across the globe on September 25 as we hold world leaders and business leaders accountable to rectify the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As we carefully resume Global Citizen’s live events, we couldn’t be more grateful to each of these artists for donating their time and performances to make an impact through this urgent campaign.”

Potential ticket-holders must earn their way into the amazing event by winning their tickets and each location has its own draw. You must begin by downloading the Global Citizen app and creating an account, within this app users can sign petitions, write letters to government officials and politicians, share news and messages via social media plus many more actions. These actions can earn users points, which they can then use to enter to win tickets to the event. The first collection of actions was released on 10th August 2021, fans have until 24th August 2021 to fulfil enough actions to place them in the competition to receive tickets. The lucky winners will be selected at random and will be notified via email, once the email has been received, ticket winners have 48 hours in which to claim their tickets.

Click here to learn more about the event.

‘Twice as Tall‘ is titanic. It opens amongst a Jazzy blaze of drums and trumpets, with the inspiring tracks ‘Level Up (Twice As Tall)‘ and ‘Alarm Clock‘. The opening tracks represents a shift into authentic beats, which draw upon actual instruments to create a full-bodied sound. Hip-hop legend Diddy produced the album.

The album is a journey, which travels across genre and tone on a smooth sea of Afro-infused exploration. It breaks into a procession of vintage Burna Boy Afro-beat bangers. The tracks ‘Baby‘, ‘Onyeka‘ and ‘Naughty by Nature‘ all capture the essence that propelled the artist to world-fame.

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Art. – – Honestly, no title cause I wanted the art to speak for itself, this album was a journey through a bunch of emotions and energies at different points in time. It has now morphed into something bigger than me. It serves as a bridge for mankind to show that we’re all different but still very much the same. I’m grateful for the unreal talents that came together from ALL over the world to pull this off. Shout out to the OG @diddy for coming on board and sprinkling his own unique spice on this! I hope I’m able to spark something in you when you listen. #TWICEASTALL

A post shared by Burna Boy (@burnaboygram) on Aug 13, 2020 at 2:14pm PDT

‘Twice As Tall‘ reaches its crescendo in its final tracks. Burna calls upon Coldplay’s Chris Martin, to create ‘Monsters You Made‘. The unlikely contribution produce the album’s most commercial track. The Nigerian superstar then collaborates with Stormzy on the heart-felt ‘Real-Life‘, which is the album’s crowning glory.

Burna Boy also released a visual comic, alongside the album. The six-minute clip details the spiritual aspect of the artist’s music, as it details meetings with different deities throughout his career. His Grand-Father, Benson Idonije, narrates the clip. Idonije is Nigerian musical royalty in his own right, having managed Afro-beat pioneer Fela Kuti.

Burna Boy was already a giant. However, he now stands ‘Twice as Tall‘. The impending success of his new studio album means that his influence will scrape the sky, and it will cement his position as one of the biggest artists in modern music.

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New tune with the legendary @samsmith out now!! Did this one up on my birthday so it’s extra special! Link in stories

A post shared by Burna Boy (@burnaboygram) on Jul 30, 2020 at 12:52pm PDT

While the majority of fans online seem to be enjoying the track. It has sparked conversation online in regards to the laws in Nigera. Burna Boy is a Nigerian artist and Sam Smith is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. For context for those who aren’t aware, same sex sexual relationships are punishable by up to fourteen years in prison in Nigeria. Nigeria has been named as the most dangerous place in the world for queer tourists. While acceptance is increasing, homophobia still runs deep throughout the country.

Many Twitter users, took to the platform to question why are people loving Sam Smith but ignoring Nigerian LGBTQ+ artists. One user said; “Nigerians are suddenly interested in Sam Smith’s music and not the sexuality. But where is this energy when LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria are just minding their business? Why don’t you just ignore and face the art they’re creating?” 

This sparked a debate as people replied saying it wasn’t a “sudden” interest, that Sam Smith’s music has been playing in Nigeria for years and that this debate goes back to the age-old question, should we separate the artist from the art?

No one was ever “interested” in his sexuality, twas mostly just the music, and he’s great at it. Gotta give him props for that. You see, this dumb agenda y’all keep pushing is why the general public keep discriminating against you. — Moon Person (@VulcanTDE) July 30, 2020

In reply to this, people stated that it is important to recognise homophobia and use opportunities like this to highlight every day homophobia. A user replied saying; “You’re not “interested” in their sexuality because they’re white and rich and you know your homophobia is inconsequential. If your neighborhood carpenter was openly gay y’allwouldn’t “separate the art from the artist””

Many others used examples like Elton John, who is loved regardless of his identity, and how that shows the blind eye people have as they support him while ignoring the violence shown towards members of the LGBTQ+ community around the world.

This Burna collab w/ Sam Smith shows again that Nigerians will kill their own people for being gay but still celebrate and gladly support queer people from Western countries.
They love Elton John but will rather die than let a Nigerian in Nigeria have the same freedom Elton has.

— Alphabet Mafia, G Division☭ (@Kayode_ani) July 30, 2020

My Oasis is out now.

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New song ‘My Oasis’ with @burnaboygram. Released 7.20pm BST tomorrow!!

A post shared by Sam Smith (@samsmith) on Jul 29, 2020 at 12:00pm PDT

According to The List, when speaking about the new album, Sam said; “It’s really deep into exploring my gender, exploring my queerness. I changed my pronouns and I was feeling so happy to be myself. I was going out in Los Angeles a lot and I was dancing and I was drinking loads, having a wonderful time with all my friends. I went into the studio and the guys who were writing with me said: ‘What do you want to say?'”

Sam decided to postpone and re-name their third studio album as they didn’t feel the original title To Die For was appropriate because of the global pandemic. They announced this on Twitter in March, saying; “I have done a lot of thinking the last few weeks and feel that the title of my album and imminent release doesn’t feel right, have come to the decision to continue working on the album and make some important changes and additions.”

To my wonderful fans… x pic.twitter.com/ZdhCeRkH7Q — samsmith (@samsmith) March 30, 2020

This is Sam Smith’s newest single since the release of their collaboration with Demi Lovato in April for the song I’m Ready. This has been a busy time for Burna Boy who has released a few singles, as well as a collaborative EP with production duo DJDS titled Steel & Copper. Burna Boy also recently celebrated the one year anniversary of their album African Giant which got a billion streams.

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AFRICAN GIANT IS 1 TODAY!! We got a billion streams!!!. The journey has been crazyyyy! You’ve all become family and we’ve made history together! Sold out shows worldwide, awards and most importantly, the lives that have been impacted by the music! #AGIS1 – – Don’t get comfortable though, I’m coming back TWICE AS TALL!

A post shared by Burna Boy (@burnaboygram) on Jul 26, 2020 at 1:34pm PDT

The new date for the album has not been released yet, but the new single My Oasis with Burna Boy will be out tonight at 7:20pm BST.

Wonderful combines a warming melody with Burna Boy’s own smokey vocals to deliver a single that evokes feelings of hope, elation and positivism. The Nigerian star explained that he wanted to use the track to show that ‘music is a uniting force that transcends state lines, barriers and boarders‘, and was inspired by ‘the impact of [his] music on people’s lives‘ as well as the ‘joy, pain and pleasure‘ that was shared with him as he ‘toured the world.’ The reviews confirm that his message has been successfully received, with Rolling Stone declaring that its ‘crisp beat‘ and ‘cheerful‘ riff will eventually bring people together on dance floors ‘around the Atlantic‘.

The new album, Twice as Tall, looks to build on the barnstorming success that Burna Boy enjoyed in 2019. His album African Giant earned the artist The Best World Music Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, and included the single On The Low which was awarded a gold plaque for achieving 15 million streams in France. African Giant was merely the foundation for the artist, as he transitioned into a household name because of features on Stormzy’s Own It and Dave’s Location. He is now considered the undisputed king of Afro-fusion, with the Chicago Sun Times labelling him a ‘pioneer‘ of the wider Afro-beats movement.

Burna Boy, native to the Edo State of Nigeria, has helped popularise a distinctly African genre. He has often cited fellow countryman Fela Kuti as an inspiration. Kuti, who was managed by Burna Boy’s grandfather, is considered as a founding father of the Afro-beat genre. Burna Boy has fused Kuti’s sound with dance-hall rhythm and contemporary western R and B. The result is a cultural, commercial interpretation of continental musical identity. The Grammy winner reflected his African pride in Wonderful, which he described as a ‘note to come home‘ no matter ‘how far you go‘. ‘Above all‘ Burna Boy mused, ‘Africa is home, it is the motherland to all people. For us to truly matter, Africa has to matter‘.

The musician was due to celebrate his summer release with a tour of the United States, however, as a result of current events it has been postponed.The impending popularity of Wonderful, and the sentiment it inspires, proves that mere postponement will not stop Burna Boy’s meteoric rise. The artist has an innate ability to radiate a toe-tapping, crackling, aura through sound. His new single is no exception, as the sun-soaked, bbq sizzled, boozed gardens of the nation will soon discover.

The track begins with Burna Boy’s mellow melodic vibe on the catchy chorus. Dave then jumps in with bars dedicated to his interactions with the opposite gender and party lifestyle “I preed that girl outrageous ting, but she can’t see cos I got shades and ting”. For this vocalised, head-nodding beat, production credits are split between Fraser Smith, Dave and one of the hottest producers for U.K hip-hop Jae5.

Dave is known to take creative control over his projects, assisting Kaylum Dennis with the video direction for these visuals. The video begins with a screenshot of an old post taken from Dave’s twitter in which he sets the scene for a ‘perfect’ 2019 where J Hus is free, girls are smiling and ‘Location’ is playing in the background. Dave decided to bring this vision to reality, set in Ibiza at Stormzy’s annual #MerkyFest, amoungst the bikini-clad women this star-studded video also includes familiar faces from the scene such as Konan, Aitch and Mist.

Picture the scenes. You’re drunk in Ibiza. It’s merky festival and you’ve had a couple cocktails, Hus is free, location is playing, Girls are smiling at you. What a 2019

— SANTAN (@Santandave1) March 29, 2019

Debuting at #1 on the U.K album charts, Dave’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ received widespread praise after being released March of this year. Focusing on topics such as mental health, racial inequality and domestic abuse, Dave manages to depict the gritty reality of life in London using heartfelt lyricism and excellent production in which he is credited on every song.