I doubt you need any introduction when you have contributed to not 1, not 2, but 3 of the songs that currently occupy the top 5 spots on the Apple Music Top 100: Nigeria Charts. FEELING (1), OUTSIDE (4) and BLING (5) are currently staying strong on multiple charts and the common denominator on all those songs is Daniel Benson. Or I should say BujuToYourEars, as you’re more likely to know him by. Akin to the title of the song that precipitated his current upward trajectory, Buju’s journey to fame and stardom has been somewhat spiritual. Not the early parts of it though, that part was somewhat stereotypical. Young boy discovers (rap) music in secondary school, bouyed on by friends and inspired by reigning mainstream artistes he tries his hands at it, falls in love with music…you know how it goes.
The plot twist to Buju’s story however is the part where he quit music in his university days. He did however reverse that decision, obviously, in a moment of reflection and inspiration after he got fired from an internship position he held back in 2017. Low key singles like “Catch A Vibe” and “A Day In Lagos” dropped and a fanbase started to build in appreciation of his talents. Then came the catalysing reaction that saw Buju explode.The stars aligned for Buju when his fans persuaded Zlatan into featuring on “Spiritual”. The song went on to become a massive success and Buju has not looked back ever since. “L’enu” (the remix of which featured Burna Boy), “Mind Games”, “So Lovely” and more recently “Outside” have followed between late 2019 and this year, and Buju has not dropped the ball once. Still on that run is a number of impressive hooks and feature verses. No, impressive is an understatement. Phenomenal describes it better. The latest – “FEELING” with Ladipoe – may understandably come to mind more readily, but the best of the lot has to be “Do Me Nice” with Show Dem Camp where he dropped a hook so good that it had us all…well, hooked (PS: the 49th Street inducted that hook into the Hall Of Fame of All-time Hooks, it is that good). Perfection is difficult to attain but Buju is sure pushing the boundaries with his manipulating and execution of the Afro-fusion sound. It is little wonder he has been so successful despite a somewhat limited discography. We very much look forward to him expanding his library as the months fly by. Because he is a special talent.
