Sean Koome 

Disk One

Ye by Burna Boy

Artist:- Burna Boy - Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.

Song:- Ye:- It was released on August 6, 2018, as the sixth single from his third studio album Outside. The song was produced by Nigerian record producer Phantom. It peaked at number 26 and 31 on Billboard's Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts, respectively.

The track itself, set on the expression “Ye”, an obscure onomatopoeia with a multiplex of meanings, was borne of a series of spontaneities. According to producer Phantom, he produced the beat in less than two hours with nothing but a kick, piano synths and a few snares. The icing on the cake came by way of a vocal sample he had performed himself and layered on to the beat. The result of Phantom’s wailing cry lifted the simple arrangement into a pseudo-spiritual Afrojuju-inspired composition.

This distinctly harrowing sample is first reason “Ye” immediately reckons as an authentically Nigerian song. Enter Burna Boy who cuts straight to the heart of his message with very little intro.It’s not a sombre entry that compliments the wailing vocal sample that makes the beat so poignant, but Burna’s brashness is justified by a point of inflection he introduces on the track.

Burna refers to the stereotypical negative character assessment often given to Nigerians who carry dreadlocks, a hairstyle Burna himself has donned for many years. There’s double meaning involved which also speaks to an upward rise in police brutality, which people with dreadlocks are often susceptible victims. Burna’s “Ye” story opens from here, as he embraces the mystique of being ‘Lagbaja’ (which literally translates as a John Doe), with a follow up line about being a “biggie man”, whose social status is undiscernible because he doesn’t wear flashy clothing.

After this eclectic first verse, Burna’s outlook becomes more personal, as he looks for respite in a less altruistic life of switching G-Wagons for Bentleys. While Burna’s self-removal here echoes a man who isn’t overly burdened by larger society ideals, he also appears to be posing as the average Nigerian dealing with the average Nigerian problems; of a society where nothing changes because everyone is too busy looking to save themselves. Nobody wants to suffer or die without reaping the full fruits of coming on the earth, and Burna is no different from every Nigerian in that category whose greatest aspirations lie somewhere between exceeding wealth and personal advancement at all costs.