Burna Boy opened up about the time African boys were viewed as “ugly” and “not popping” by society.
During a recent interview with Kiss Fresh, the Afrobeats star explained why he sampled a statement J Hus made on one of his Instagram Stories in his latest single “City Boys.” In the Story, the British rapper said, “Ayo I’m not even going to lie, I used to call myself a ugly yute, but I’m not even an ugly yute. I’m sexy yute, you understand? Gyal all over the globe wanna ‘uck me, you understand?”
When the host Henrie Kuwushue asked Burna Boy why he decided to use that sound as the intro to the song, he said, “I feel like he was speaking for all of us, Black African boys. There was a time in life when we weren’t popping. You had to be a light-skinned boy. Did you not have Chris Brown on your wall? Let’s be real, we weren’t popping. We were getting called all types of names. It is what it is, you know.”
The “Last Last” hitmaker continued, J Hus called himself Mr. Ugly… But there was a reason for that! That was the view that society had of us. The whole narrative has changed and we now look in the mirror like, ‘Hmmmm, so the whole time they were trying to finesse us.’ We’ve always known our worth, it’s everyone else that didn’t and then someone keeps telling you something, even if you know it’s not true, it’s like, the fact that they keep telling you, it’s in your head. Whether you accept it or not, it’s like, it’s still in your head. Now, it’s about you accepting it or not. But, it’s not easy to be strong like that.” Check out the clip below.
“City Boys” is a single from Burna Boy’s seventh studio album, I Told Them…, which was released back in August. The project features guest appearances from J Hus, GZA, 21 Savage, Dave, Seyi Vibez, RZA, J. Cole, and Byron Messia.