{"id":93480,"date":"2021-12-02T12:58:32","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T10:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=93480"},"modified":"2021-12-02T12:58:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T10:58:41","slug":"buju-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/buju-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Buju\u2019s Sorry I\u2019m Late arrives right on time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The Nigerian Afrobeats space is used to having fresh playboys at its forefront, singing with their seductive voices about light-hearted love and romance. <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/buju\/\">Buju<\/a>, born Daniel Benson, defies that standard. Though his soft vocals and his flashy Instagram could blend easily into that style, the singer is here to make something different, fusing Afrobeats with alternative R&amp;B and adding meaning and purpose to his writings. \u201c<em>You know my sound is on fire, The melody is on fire, And I don&#8217;t stop, I don&#8217;t tire<\/em>\u201d, he sings on \u201cDaniel Benson\u201d, the introduction to his latest project <em>Sorry I\u2019m Late<\/em>; indeed, Buju has a thing or two to brag about. Securing his first hit in 2019 alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/zlatan\/\">Zlatan<\/a> on \u201cSpiritual\u201d, he cemented his spot in the industry with \u201cLenu\u201d, remixed by his idol <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/burna-boy\/\">Burna Boy<\/a> who signed him to his very own label. Firmly believing in his talent, Buju signed out of the imprint soon after, deciding to take full ownership of his art. 2021 saw him rise meteorically: he went number 1 in the country on <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/blaqbonez\/\">Blaqbonez<\/a>\u2019 soft \u201cBling\u201d, on <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/ladipoe\/\">LADIPOE<\/a>\u2019s monster hit \u201cFeeling\u201d and on his solo \u201cOutside\u201d. His new project, surprisingly, is an apology: an apology to his supporters for keeping them waiting longer than he intended throughout the 2020 madness, inspired by a heated voice note from a disheartened fan chasing new music. Throughout seven eclectic tracks, the EP showcases his versatility and his capacity to drop dancefloor bangers with meaningful lyrics. We spoke to Buju in his Lagos apartment, waiting for a flight to the UK that would lead him to join <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/wizkid\/\">Wizkid<\/a> at the O2 Arena for their hit &#8220;MOOD&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Buju - Never Stopped (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lshH3Kce_3k?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Buju &#8211; Never Stopped (Official Video)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When was the moment you started taking music seriously?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It all happened in 2017, the year I coined the acronym BUJU, which means Beauty Underneath Just Understood. At the time I was transitioning. I was still at school, studying computer science technology, and I was slowly realizing that singing was what I really wanted to do. I hadn\u2019t recorded music before 2017. In high school, we liked to play around, and I know I hopped on one song, rapping. But nothing serious, it never came out professionally. Yet, I just knew it was a path I wanted to follow. I started working on my writing and yeah, in 2018 I started recording properly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time, I used to listen to Burna Boy religiously. I thought \u201c<em>this guy is making music I enjoy. But there\u2019s not a lot of other guys that make music like that<\/em>!\u201d So I just thought I could try. Soundcloud was popping, my agemates had music on there and they had a little cult following. I thought I could also try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What does \u201cBeauty Underneath Just Understood\u201d mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I felt like beauty was the talent that was always inside me, and I didn&#8217;t necessarily grasp the full potential of it. I\u2019ve been singing in a choir, in school, in church since the early age of 10 or 11. But I had never taken music seriously, I had never tapped into this beauty. I just felt like I had a little bit of talent and that was just it, I wasn&#8217;t going to do more than that, even though a lot of people used to tell me that I had an amazing voice. But then, the very moment I understood it and I knew how this was going to change my life, that\u2019s when I understood that Buju made sense to me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yet, a nice voice is not enough and you put in a lot of effort to find your audience\u2026&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Quite early, I had gone viral on Twitter because I was singing one of my songs called \u201cCommander\u201d and I was having a little bit of a wave. One day I recorded a song with my producer called \u201cSpiritual\u201d. My friends were miming Zlatan\u2019s adlibs. He\u2019s always on some extra adlibs: \u201cAyiiii\u201d! That type of stuff (<em>laughs<\/em>). I took a video of them and put it on Twitter. I wasn&#8217;t necessarily thinking it was going to go anywhere, but two weeks later Zlatan himself hit me up: \u201c<em>I love it, I love the ginger. I\u2019m down to do it<\/em>\u201d. It was amazing. He paid for the video, recorded his verse, everything was so great. Zlatan is a real guy, the realest person. That\u2019s how \u201cSpiritual\u201d kicked off. I was just playing in the room and my people liked Zanku.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I try to be different somehow. I put lyrics to it, I put a lot of wording and creativity to it. Talent isn\u2019t enough, you have to put in the work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1010\" height=\"1263\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-1010x1263.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-93485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-1010x1263.jpg 1010w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-759x949.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-1440x1800.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-661x826.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-465x581.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1-375x469.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Buju-1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Speaking about trying to be different, you have a very specific sound. How did you coin that?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I listen to a whole range of music. I\u2019m not just the Afrobeats guy. I listen to <a href=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/tag\/obongjayar\/\">Obongjayar<\/a>, to Frank Ocean, to Khalid\u2026 People that have deeper lyrics. I find joy in the complication. Sometimes some people ask why I chose this pattern, because it&#8217;s not a road everybody is using. I could use easier lyrics but I\u2019m more trying to make something recognizable and timeless. Like guys I look up to. I enjoy making music like this. I love when there\u2019s a story behind it, or something other than just beats. That\u2019s the only way I can actually push a different narrative.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This difference has been noted, and your rise has been quite quick. How do you stay grounded?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wouldn&#8217;t say that it was super quick. The first year that people started wondering who Buju was, this guy singing, was 2019. I just had the Zanku verse, and I was everywhere, playing shows back to back to back. Then in 2020, the pandemic came and I signed a record deal with Burna. Yet, there weren\u2019t shows, there weren&#8217;t places just to be at\u2026 it was looking very still. It was a very slow year for me, I didn&#8217;t even put out music for nine months. It was out of my control. I\u2019m under a label, so I can\u2019t promote everything by myself. Then 2021 came and I was like \u201c<em>okay, I have to get music out there<\/em>\u201d. I did features, I hopped on a couple of tracks. I did Blackbonez, \u201cBling\u201d, and it went crazy, number 1 here. It put me back in that mental state that I needed, because at the time I wasn&#8217;t really happy. Then, \u201cFeeling\u201d with Ladipoe\u2026 It just turned everything crazy and I started understanding my potential better. Then I dropped \u201cOutside\u201d, my biggest single right now. I just needed to keep up with that momentum. I\u2019m enjoying it but there\u2019s still a lot of work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Buju - Outside (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3A3MiNlX6II?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Buju &#8211; Outside (Official Video)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Is that what you are trying to say with <em>Sorry I\u2019m Late<\/em>?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this project, I want to say that this is Buju to your ears and I\u2019m a great writer. I\u2019ve made you party, I\u2019ve made you jiggy and have a great time; how about I tell you about me, so you understand me from a whole different perspective? That\u2019s why \u201cDaniel Benson\u201d is there, \u201cNever Stop\u201d is there, \u201cI Do\u201d is there&#8230; These are very personal records, they show the kind of reflective person I am. I told people everything they need to know about my person. And it was also just my audio apology. For people that really stuck by me and held onto me those months I didn&#8217;t put out music. It&#8217;s crazy to be fast rising or on the come up, and then not drop any music for months! But the support was always still there. <em>Sorry I\u2019m Late<\/em> is for them. And a lot of songs were also left on the EP, there\u2019s still so many more that people need to hear. It\u2019s just a teaser.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Did you expect the reception you had?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first I wondered if Nigerians would really take this project. It\u2019s not what they want, what they expect. Then I overshadowed that fear. When I dropped \u201cOutside\u201d, it took out that veil of \u201c<em>Nigerians don\u2019t listen to lyrics, they don\u2019t listen to lyrical songs<\/em>\u201d. It\u2019s wrong. They actually take it very personally, especially when it relates to them. I knew songs like \u201cNever Stop\u201d, \u201cI do\u201d, \u201cSomething Sweet\u201d, \u201cKilometer\u201d would get to people. It was almost like giving different categories of people what they wanted. One song might not work for this person but work for that person. You\u2019re trying to find your vibrations on the project. Almost three weeks now, and it\u2019s still number 1 in Nigeria! It just shows that people are listening. Everybody is finding that vibration one way or the other. I knew the right people would take it the right way.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/music.empi.re\/sorryimlate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sorry I&#8217;m Late<\/a><\/em> by Buju, still available on all platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Listen to Buju in our One Dance playlist on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/5fzbLUbqLiEvriBPMlLNbf?si=-0mH0IkjTN6PQ-2ZGmXuCg\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deezer.com\/fr\/playlist\/2316095842\" target=\"_blank\">Deezer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-91245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late.jpg 960w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-759x759.jpg 759w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-661x661.jpg 661w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-85x85.jpg 85w, https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Buju-Sorry-Im-late-73x73.jpg 73w\" sizes=\"(min-width:1010px) 759px,100vw\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following a string of number 1 singles, Nigeria\u2019s new velvet voice wants you to know all about him. We spoke to Buju about Sorry I\u2019m Late &#8211; and the wait is forgiven!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":93488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833,7835],"tags":[20359,40951],"location":[8172],"yst_prominent_words":[8403,8511,8502,28955,24988,8505,8447,8618,8613,10451,11059,8402,9006,8400,8619],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93480"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=93480"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=93480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}