Afropop continues to make a case for itself in music industries around the world. Though mostly sought after in Northern and Southern Africa and the United Kingdom, it has spread its wings among the multiple genres that exist in these societies. Feature after feature, the adapted genre has proven its malleability and is powered by musicians that are as un-boxable as their sounds, it stretches, acclimates, and seasons wherever it finds itself. Of the growing list of artists taking the genre to the world stage, Burna Boy is top on the list of those that have helped the genre blend with others no matter the extent of the disparity. He did so with Fall Out Boys and Lily Allen. Today, he makes a Pop crossover possible along with Jon Bellion on the latter’s highly anticipated latest, I Feel It.
I Feel It is a blank canvas for both Jon Bellion and Burna Boy as they go to lengths with experimentalism over a largely groovy soundscape twinkling with woodwinds. Bellion deviates from his usual sound, finding a home in the thickness and headiness of windy and groovy percussions, while Burna Boy banks on the gruffness of his vocals to match the ambiance created by the instrumental.
Though largely unrelated to Afropop, Burna Boy’s involvement is a sign of a collective desire to get a taste of Afropop’s magic king-making abilities. It also speaks to the former’s range.