Bose Ogulu

Bose Ogulu is a Nigerian academic, businesswoman and manager. She manages her son Burna Boy's musical career and thus is also known as Mama Burna.

Early life

Ogulu is the daughter of Nigerian music critic Benson Idonije, who was the manager of Fela Kuti. After studying at the University of Port Harcourt, Ogulu trained as a translator and worked for the West African Chambers of Commerce. With her partner Samuel, she had three children and raised them in Port Harcourt. She is fluent in English, French, German, Italian, and Yoruba.[1][2] She then ran a language school called Language Bridges. In addition, she taught French for a decade at the University of Education in Port Harcourt, retiring in 2018.[3]

Manager

Ogulu manages the musical careers of her son Damini, who performs as Burna Boy and daughter Nissi, who performs under her own name. She managed Burna Boy until 2014 and then became his manager again from 2017 onwards, gaining the nickname Mama Burna.[4][3] She has collected awards for Burna Boy at various events, including the All Africa Music Awards, The Headies and the MTV Europe Music Award.[5] When she heard that Burna Boy had won the 2019 MTV award for Best African Act, she interrupted his show to tell him.[6]

When Burna Boy won four prizes at the 2018 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival, Ogulu represented him and caused a social media sensation by saying "Expect more madness".[3] At the 2019 BET Awards in California, Ogulu stood in for her son to collect the award for Best International Act and gave a speech reminding African-Americans to remember "you were Africans before you became anything else" which resulted in a standing ovation.[7][8]

References
  1. Ogunnaike, Lola (4 March 2020). "Burna Boy Is Trying to Wake Up Africa". GQ. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  2. Kotto, Rolyvan (31 March 2020). "Burna Boy révèle pourquoi il préfère que sa mère soit son manager". Life (in French). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. Durosomo, Damola (29 March 2019). "The Internet Doesn't Know Mama Burna At All". OkayAfrica. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. "Title of new album and other Burna Boy's revelations in Twitter Q&A". Pulse Nigeria. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  5. "Burna Boy absent at coronation as Africa's artiste of the year - P.M. News". PM News Nigeria. 24 November 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  6. Ekechukwu, Ferdinand (9 November 2019). "Burna Boy Relishes MTV EMA Trophy". THISDAYLIVE. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  7. "Remember you were Africans before you became anything else, Burna Boy's mum gives epic speech at BET Awards". Punch Nigeria. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. Duerden, Nick (19 July 2019). "How Burna Boy Became Nigeria's Surprise Success Story". Billboard. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
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