Burna Boy Reveals The Inspiration Behind His New Album 'I Told Them...'

Burna Boy is back with his most innovative album to date.

On Friday, August 25, the Nigerian artist delivered his seventh studio LP I Told Them... via Spaceship/Bad Habit/Atlantic Records. The highly-anticipated collection of 15 songs draws inspiration from '90s Hip-Hop icons like Wu-Tang Clan and more. His album opens with the title track featuring GZA followed by other major singles like "Big 7," which he dropped last month, "Sittin' On The Top Of The World" with 21 Savage and closes out with "Talibans II" featuring Byron Messia.

"Well, I Told Them…" Burna Boy tells iHeartRadio about the album's title. "I came up with that because literally I told them."

I Told Them... is a mixture of afrobeats and samples of the most recognizable Hip-Hop hits like "Giza" and "City Boys," which was inspired by Jeremih's "Birthday Sex." It also features other outstanding collaborations like "Cheat On Me" with Dave, "Thanks" featuring J. Cole and "12 Jewels" with RZA. In the days leading up to the album's release, Burna Boy released videos for "Big 7," which was shot in New York City and features a cameo from Busta Rhymes, and "Sittin' On Top Of The World" with 21.

Burna Boy recently sat down with iHeartRadio to talk about the album's direction, working with RZA and 21 Savage plus more. Press play on his new album now and check out the conversation below.

Your album's title I Told Them… sounds like a victory lap following all your recent success. How did you decide on the final title and what's the story behind it?

Well, I Told Them… I came up with that because literally I told them. It’s something I've been doing. I've always said, everything you see today, you are going to see. This is really the “I told them moment.” If you go back to any of my social media platforms, you'd see the evidence of me telling them that I was going to be this and I was going to do that, and I was going to do this.


What do you have to say to those who doubted your craft and criticized your journey to the top?

First of all, thank you. Because it wouldn't be as much fun if everyone believed.

When did you first realize you were on your way to everything you told them you would be?

I always knew. I feel like there wasn't a specific moment per se when anything changed in my head. I was just faced with a lot of situations that weren't the easiest to come out of, but we finally made a way out. So it's not like I ever had any doubts of my capabilities of what or what I was going to do, was just the situations I was put in.

What can fans expect from the album?

Expect me to be enjoying myself with this album. Don't expect nothing, really. Just take it for what it is and not what you expect it to be.

How did rap artists like Wu-Tang and Busta Rhymes inspire the albums direction? What is it about what they were doing that you loved?

It's literally the energies of what I couldn't do as a kid type s**t. So it's like watching them and wanting to do that type of stuff. So now it's like I get to meet them and it's like they're my people now for real. So it's something that I just had to do because really I'm in a place where I'm having fun with it right now. Life is great. I'm just in a place where I just want to do everything that ever came to my head.

How did the 21 Savage remix of “Sittin’ On Top of the World” come together?

I mean, that's actually the second tune we've done. One of them ain’t out. You know what I mean? So it's like we just be working, really.

What's the story behind your collaboration with RZA "12 Jewels"?

I’ve been getting lessons from the god man, from RZA, and that's really just part of the lessons. It's something that I've applied in my life forever before I even knew that this is how it was broken down. Something that has been a part of me forever and now there's a definition for it. There's an explanation for it.

You recently broke the record as the first African artist to sell-out Citi field. What’s next?

Next, I don't know, perform for aliens in space in a stadium or some s**t *laughs*

What can fans expect from your upcoming performances this year?

I mean, literally don't expect anything. Just accept it for what it is and for what is presented as and not what you expect it to be or what you hope for it to be, because I'm going to give you what I am.