Burna Boy's 'Twice As Tall' Album Review

Burna Boy’s Twice As Tall Is Twice As Dope Than Standard (Bland) Afrobeats

"And the Grammy goes to..."

Have you ever seen a giant with a chip on his shoulder? That's Burna Boy after he lost the coveted 'World Music Album' to Angelique Kidjo at the 2020 Grammys.

"I remember when I couldn't level up, 'cos the Grammys had me sick as f*ck, throwing up" laments Burna Boy on the self-titled album opener featuring Senegalese music legend Youssou N'Dour.

Burna opens this chapter of his life with admirable vulnerability and admits to dealing with lack of confidence, insecurity and jealousy. Our African Giant doesn't lick his wounds for long ("tell them say they can't bury us") as he quickly stands on his two feet thanks to the rousing words of N'Dour.

"I'm a motherfuc*ing legend, and I say it proudly" roars Burna from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro as he remembers all that he has achieved within the last few years.

Towards the end of the track, Burna delivers a line which is crucial to one of the core themes of his new LP "All I wanted was weed in my rizzla, And some VVS to ice my bezel up (Run it up)."

Contemporary Nigerian pop music (or Afrobeats depending on which side of the world you are from) has grown to become a blossoming world genre but even its most ardent fans are quick to say the genre is filled with hedonism, blissful blindness, misogyny and excessive materialism that fails to reflect the harsh conditions it grew from.

'Twice As Tall' strips itself of the childish inhibitions, immature cravings and amateurish songwriting that have been chained to the genre for over a decade. Always conscious, Burna Boy doubles down on his pro-black message (whether you believe he is sincere or not) devoid of Afrobeats’ worst tropes.

Now energized and woke, Burna Boy sets out to wake up other black people in the globe to be conscious of their greatness. "God made us. He made the magical beings. It's important how you look at yourself. And you view yourself (Wake up)”, says Hip-Hop's co-supreme alpha male Puff Daddy on the sweet (albeit short) 'Alarm Clock'.

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With Puff Daddy as his sensei of sorts, Burna Boy's giant stature grows a foot or two taller. On the Leriq and Mike Dean produced 'Way Too Big', Burna sends a warning shot to his contemporaries, "I’m way too big, way too big to be fucking with you. Because I’m way too smart, Way too smart to be fucking with you" on the hook.

This knowledge of self is not for solely puffing his chest on the Empire State Building like King Kong. 

He lashes out his anger at Nigeria's political class (“It's like the heads of the state/Ain't comprehending the hate” and its educational system (“Fuck Mungo Park and the fools. That said they found river Niger. They’ve been lying to you on) ‘Monsters You Made’ featuring Chris Martin of Coldplay.

‘Monsters You Made’ is one of Burna’s angriest moments on records and a cornerstone of this album. He stamps his soul on the record as he quakes with anger and vengeance. Hailing from Port-Harcourt, a city in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger-Delta region, the African Giant also touches on the environmental pollution of the region.

Chris Martin’s pillowy hook does not soften Burna’s blow or warning shot, “Live through the day, better pray that God always staying with you/Ain't fucking safe any day, the reaper'll be coming for you.”

This poignant record is also timely as the political class and a traditional ruler have criticized young Nigerians for not engaging in politics but being fixated on the country’s number one TV reality show.

It’s ironic that this record is coming out when the agency responsible for the development of the Niger-Delta has been involved in a corruption scandal.

What Nigeria’s elite and political class do not know is that young Nigerians are products of institutional neglect and in Burna’s words “the monsters you made.”

Another bad trait of Afrobeats is its tired formula of creating an alternative reality. Burna Boy shuns this element on ‘Real Life’ featuring Stormzy. 

Puff Daddy’s vocals come up again on the Telz & Mario Winans produced joint to stress the importance of music that touches on reality and not dwell in fantasy land. 

“I never subscribe to guys on the Internet. Living for the clout, telling lies to the press again. Better don't take me for the fool I ain't never been” sings Burna Boy on the breezy and cool track that will be perfect for a Sunday evening drive on 3rd Mainland Bridge.

Stormzy’s pre-hook further makes the song one of the stand-out gems on the LP.

The best song on the album comes up at the last track. Produced by Jae-5 of J-Hus fame, Burna Boy completes his story on this album on ‘Bank On It’.

On the beginning of this LP, we hear Burna reeling from his Grammy loss. By the end of the album, Burna has god-like confidence as he leans on God to protect him from his neighbours/enemies.

Burna Boy is one of the Nigerian pop acts who expresses the duality of life easily on a track. He is wary of death lurking around the corner just like Pop Smoke who he collaborated with, “Anyone of us could have been Pop Smoke, We must go when the most high call us. So I'm paranoid, borderline bipolar. Wear my vest and clean my gun up. I ain't going out breda.”

By the time he gets to the hook, the instrumental builds up for Burna Boy to deliver melodious and inspiring lines. The track further elevates only to a plane where giants reside when the choir backs him up as he says “As the day comes. As I go on. Guide and watch over me oh Lord. I cannot trust my neighbour.”

And the arc of Burna’s journey on this album is complete. Battling with confidence at the beginning, he is back to his cocky self by the time the album is done.

At the heart of this album is self-confidence. The message is to get up after you have failed, be twice as tall and walk with giant strides. It is the core element of this LP that aims to infect listeners with this message. It is a stirring message thanks to Burna Boy’s range, vocal dexterity, an A-list cast of guests and purposeful production.

Polished with a pro-black gloss, Burna Boy’s new offering is inspirational material to Nigeria’s neglected and impoverished youth to rise beyond the obstacles created by the country’s political class.

And this is where he deviates from his contemporaries, instead of focusing on luxury brands, expensive cars and women with #WAP certifications, he offers something more lasting - knowledge of self.

Now, confidence doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes. Burna Boy surely does on this album. The second portion of this album suffers from album fillers like the tepid lead single ‘Wonderful’, ‘Comma’ and a few others.

However, the Sauti Sol collaboration brings the album out of a rut of forgettable songs. ‘Time Flies’ is a power joint effort which underlines Burna Boy’s message of African unity. 

‘Naughty by Nature’ featuring the legendary group helps iron out some wrinkles on the album with a dose of nostalgia and 90’s nifty style of rhyming.

The album is not perfect but it is bold and refreshing.

Burna Boy has been many things in his musical journey. He first started as pop rookie, then pop star to pop outcast before emerging from the ashes as a pop phoenix. Most recently he established himself as a pop giant but with ‘Twice As Tall’ he can boldly claim to be a pop god sitting on his throne at Kilimanjaro.

You can stream Twice As Tall HERE