Burna Boy Recruits Chris Martin On ‘Monsters You Made’
Burna Boy hops back onto the music scene in full swing with a brand new album: “Twice As Tall”. And, while the project features some heavyweight collaborations, the lead single featuring Coldplay’s Chris Martin takes the cake. Or, at least some part of it. The duo lands in the music world today with their first ever collaboration – a politically charged track titled ‘Monsters You Made’.
Burna Boy, who is currently riding a massive wave of success from his recent collaboration with Sam Smith on ‘My Oasis’, says it like it is on ‘Monsters You Made’. The track uses irony and striking wit to call the bluff on bigots world over. Following a common mode of lyricism in rap, Burna Boy details the black experience with a story.
In addition, ‘Monsters You Made’ is reminiscent of the kind of vocalist-rapper collaborations that peppered the 2010s. Burna Boy sets the tone with a spoken word interlude. He can be heard saying, “If the government refused to develop the region, and continued the marginalization and injustice; the youth, that’s what coming after us. And, it will be more brutal, than what we have done.”
Burna Boy Speaks His Truth
And so, it begins. Chris Martin kicks things off with a comfortable refrain, singing, “Calling me a monster, calling us fake/ No way, no way, no way/ Calling me a monster, just ‘cause we say.” And, with this, the stage is set for Burna Boy. The rapper offers vignettes of various experiences. And, in a perceptive, perhaps unintentional move, he does not claim to represent anyone’s experience.
And, while he represents a moment in time; a narrative in history, he does not appropriate anyone’s truth. Burna Boy simply speaks of the world he sees around him.
Detailing hypocrisy and the vicious nature of systemic racial injustice and power dynamics at play, ‘Monsters You Made’ is a commentary on the times. And, while it deals with socio-political discourse, it offers steady, upbeat production.
‘Monsters You Made’ by Burna Boy and Chris Martin features on Burna’s latest studio album, ‘”Twice As Tall”.
By: Ahalya Narayanan
