Nigeria: Burna Boy Not Nigeria's Biggest Artiste - ID Cabasa

The Coded Tunes boss said every generation and season always has someone who is the arrowhead.

Nigerian music producer Olumide Ogunlade, better known as ID Cabasa, has stated that Grammy Award-winning singer Burna Boy is not the biggest artiste in Nigeria.

In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the Coded Tunes boss said every generation and season always has someone who is the arrowhead and it doesn't necessarily mean that the person is the best among their peers.

He said, "I can't say Burna Boy is the biggest artiste in Nigeria. We have Davido, Wizkid, and Fireboy doing crazy numbers I. We have Ckay, who we should not disrespect, especially with his numbers. We have a whole lot of these guys doing crazy numbers out there.

"Even by next year, we will be celebrating some other young artists. We didn't mention Kizz Daniel, whose song is the biggest right now that everyone is buzzing with."

Cabasa noted that the best of anything is never in the past, and for every season, we always have somebody coming out to lead the pack.

In his words, "that doesn't mean that person is the best we can always have."

"Before Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Olamide, and even before ID Cabassa came into the industry; there were people.

"It's a journey. We would always have the best. Now, this is 2022. If you ask an 18-year-old guy, who is Pele? He would tell you he doesn't know who Pele is. He would also tell you about Lionel Messi; Ronald is better than Pele."

The "Totori" Crooner, who headlined Sound Sultan's Posthumous Album dubbed 'Reality CHQ', noted that the music industry is a journey that experiences and goes through different seasons and generations.

He further pointed out that no one stands as a champion forever.

Grammy

Cabasa also weighed in in the acclaimed Academy Awards dubbed The Grammys.

The Coded Tunes boss pointed out that it is not the only criteria that should be used to rate the success of an artiste.

He noted further that there is an 'unaccounted for data' that the Grammy fails to capture.

While illustrating, he said, for instance, Asake dropped a song the same day Burna Boy, and many others dropped theirs, but Asake topped the charts.

Afrobeats impact

Cabasa expressed joy on the impact that Afrobeats is earning worldwide. He observed that new acts must ensure that different indigenous genres don't become extinct.

"The only thing I'm careful about not worrying about is that we should not pack everything we represent into one genre.

"Fuji Music is distinct, and Juju Music is different. All of them can survive.

"Yeah! Afrobeats are what is popping. It is worth celebrating, but we should not throw away every other thing we have.

"If you go to the east, they have the Ekwe sound. We should not lose all of that too. We should keep celebrating them, too but so far, so good, and we are doing well," he said.

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