A common theme in Burna Boy‘s discography is his expert lifting of R&B, rap and pop records over the years — with a couple of oldies but goodies.
At the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, he performed his Grammy-nominated hit “Sittin’ on Top of the World” with 21 Savage, who’s featured on the remix, and Brandy, whose 26-year-old track “Top of the World” is famously sampled on Burna’s song. The Afro-fusion superstar also notably sampled Toni Braxton‘s hit “He Wasn’t Man Enough” on his 2022 summer smash “Last Last.” Rodney “Darkchild” Jenkins, Fred Jerkins III and LaShawn Daniels all earned credits on “Sittin’ on Top of the World” and “Last Last” since they co-wrote both “Top of the World” and “He Wasn’t Man Enough.”
Naughty by Nature‘s 1999 hit “Jamboree” plays a part in not just one Burna record, but two: The Nigerian singer-songwriter borrowed elements from “Collateral Damage” in 2019 and did it again one year later on “Naughty by Nature,” featuring the titular hip-hop trio. Speaking of doubles, the Sauti Sol-featuring “Time Flies” track from 2020 lifts from Sade‘s 1985 hit “The Sweetest Taboo” and Marc Anthony‘s 2002 track “I Need You.”
And Burna has an affinity for reworking Michael Jackson‘s old works, referencing The Jackson 5‘s “I Want You Back” on his 2011 track “Ice Cream Man” and “Dirty Diana” on the Chris Martin-assisted “Monsters You Made” in 2020.
Billboard rounded up 14 American songs that Burna Boy has sampled or interpolated throughout his discography.
