INTERVIEW:
BNXN
Interview By: Francetta Evans-Anfom
Photography By: Peter O'Sullivan
Styling By: Korede Alabi
Special Thanks
LOCKE HOTELS
Since his 2018 debut, Nigerian musician and songwriter BNXN formally known as Buju, has gone from strength to strength, with tracks such as Spiritual and features on songs with Burna Boy, Ladipoe to most recently Phleez for Finesse, which when it dropped it was the most shazamed song in the world of the week, also creating a stir on TikTok as the song’s hook “Folake for the night o” went viral in the last week with over 178 thousand videos from users within Nigeria and internationally. His lyrics are endlessly catchy and he’s pushing afro-fusion to new heights.
What is it about Afrobeats/Afrofusion/Afropop that people love? Besides us Nigerians, Ghanaians and others from Africa, it's exploded and become worldwide. Why is it so loved?
"Afrobeats, Afropop the likes- music is accepted everywhere generally. What makes our music distinct and unique is the implementation of our traditional drums and native dialect. It's a whole different sound entirely, it has a groove to it, it has a melody to it.. you might not always understand what they say but you feel a particular vibration whenever you hear it and that's why it is accepted. It is mind-blowing to everyone else..what is this sound.. what is this I’m hearing... why does it make me feel so good?"
Let’s take a step back. What were you like in school? As a child what musical influences did you have?
"From childhood, I was introduced to Afropop.. I was listening to a lot of 2Face, D'banj, Olu Maintain and they were making a lot of music at the time that was very appealing and standing out to me... I thought how are these guys making this type of music on an International type of scene.. they influenced me and made me realise there was a chance for music here…then growing up we witnessed the likes of Wizkid.. he was like our Justin Bieber.. that type of person. He basically made it acceptable for young kids to venture into music at whatever age they wanted to."
This is a common question but who inspired you to get into music? especially your particular sound.
"Burna Boy"
Shirt — Face Ltd, Trousers — ASOS, Shoes — Nike Air Force 1, Sunglasses — TMCF Eyewear, Jewellery — Seol + Gold
How do you express yourself outside of music? What does Benson do to relax?
"I like to play UFC... I like video games... I like to swim"
How did the collaboration with WizKid for your song 'Mood' come about... The creativity, lyrics, sound etc?Did you call Wizkid and suggest this idea or... What happened? What was the process like?
"Wizkid messaged me on Instagram and asked me to come to the studio the next day, I was super surprised and it was amazing so I told him I was gonna pull up. The next day I went to see him.. he was gassed, he was excited about it..he started to play me some beats... I think P2J had just sent him some beats.. he played me some samples and then played mood... I basically followed the chords.. sings na na na ohh ohh (mood chorus).. wrote the hook to the song.. wiz liked it and we recorded a couple of other songs as well. Later on, he sent me Mood and he said he wanted me to record that exact song again as we had some background noises... I re-recorded Mood and sent it over and he recorded his verse!"
Jumper — Lazy Oaf, Jewellery — Seol + Gold & Veilor
Congrats on the no.1 with 'Feeling', well done and racking up 80M streams, how did that feel? Was it a "pinch me" moment? Tell us your story behind your part on this song?
Jacket/Trousers — ASOS, Top — Issey Miyake, Boots — Bershka, Sunglasses — TMCF Eyewear, Jewellery — Seol + Gold & Veilor
"Thank you.. well.. ‘Feeling' was an amazing record.. it wasn’t necessarily expected because when I went to the studio to record with Ladipoe we had already jumped on another song he had worked on earlier that day. We thought that was probably it but the producer Andre Vibez started playing other beats. As soon as the played the beat to
‘Feeling’ I sang the hook and it was just me describing my state of mind at the time. For a song like that to gather that momentum over 1 million Shazam's 80 million streams and counting.. it was so amazing for me"
2021 was a big year for you. You performed at the O2, sold out your headline show in London at Lafayette, how did you find that experience? Did you enjoy performing in London? How does it compare to the other places you have performed?
"The show at the O2 was surreal.. I honestly felt like I was dreaming. The sold-out show at Lafayette at first I was doubting it a little bit... I was like can we sell out this place?.. do we have this much fan base in London? And to my surprise we did.. it was mind-blowing to see that amount of people turn up to hear my music and they enjoyed it so much. It was amazing vibration all night for them / everyone all night.. it was amazing really.. the show at Lafayette.. London.. the crowd.. the energy.. everything was 100%. Yeah man, I love performing in London."
You clearly have fans all over the world, have you been surprised by any countries/people/artists that have been listening to your music? Have you been happy with the amazing response to your recent project, ’Sorry I am late’?
"Yes, I have.. like I said… It was really amazing to come to London and perform the EP.. everybody is grooving.. catching a certain melody and catching a vibe… singing back to me.. singing my lyrics back to me.. they feel it differently which is amazing to me. I have been to other countries like Cyprus and Dubai and the vibe is still the same.. its like HOW?? But yeah it's amazing to see and I am grateful for everything that is happening and god."
Who would be your dream collaboration? Both an artist in the UK industry and any international artist?
"Dream collab... I worked with Burna Boy already but I wanna work with him again.. maybe Skepta and J Hus"
Back to now, what have you got planned for 2022... Music goals, gigs and concerts? To become Brit Nominated? Let us know.
"2022 is gonna be amazing… I have a whole project that I wanna drop in the summer. Then I am going on tour with Koffee in the summer.. it's about to be an amazing year.. us on the road, making more music, putting out more music and videos for the people to enjoy."
Overshirt/Trousers — ASOS, Shoes — Clarks, Jewellery — Seol + Gold & Veilor, Sunglasses — Stylists Own
Last question there are lots of new up-and-coming Afrobeats artists these days. Any 3 tips or advice you could give?
"Be yourself .. be as original as possible"
"Be willing to take risks..to some extent.. don't do anything that's gonna take your life haha but do what will take you from level 1 to level 2.. then level 2 to level 3"
"Be consistent"
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