Burna Boy vs. AKA: A brief history of their friendship and their top 5 songs together

Nigerian superstar, Burna Boy who claimed to have been away through all the storm tweeted. In his reply, he attacked South African rapper, AKA who had been bashed all day.

ALSO READ: The bashing of South African rapper, AKA by Nigerians on Twitter is ridiculous

In July 2019, the rapper tweeted in an angry haze after South Africa lost to Nigeria at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt. The tweets came back to roost after Nigerian artist, YCee used the tweets as a stick to beat AKA with. Although YCee has since backtracked on his statements, he appeared to accuse AKA of xenophobia yesterday.

Although since deleted, Burna Boy wrote yesterday that, “And @akaworldwide i knew you was retarded but I didn’t know it had gotten this bad. Next time I see you you better have a big security bro,On Gambos Grave ur gunna need it.

“And @MI_Abaga it’s Fuck @akaworldwide from now on. And if you down with him, it’s Fuck you too. I respect you too much, please Don’t throw my respect out the window cuz I swear you will fly out with it."

But before then, things were once rosy between the pair. After Burna Boy released his first album, L.I.F.E under Aristokrat Records in 2013, he was major. As he kept making waves with singles like ‘Don Gorgon’ in 2014, he became an obsession in South Africa.

One of the first people to accept him was rapper, AKA. For a moment, they were inseparable. At a point, Nigerians would even joke that Burna Boy had become South African. Together, they made music and appeared on the following songs together;

AKA ft. Burna Boy, Da L.E.S., JR - All Eyes on Me

During a rush of international collaborations between African acts, this was the sixth track and highly publicized sixth single off AKA’s sophomore album, Levels.

While AKA was already gaining traction in Nigeria with a songs like 'Victory Lap,' 'All I Know,' 'Jealousy' and a remix of 'N Word' by Ice Prince, this song further endeared him to the Nigerian mainstream.

It was hugely successfully and won the best collaboration at the All Africa Music Awards in 2015. The song then led to further collaborations between Nigerian acts and AKA. The song also came during

Sarkodie featuring Burna Boy & AKA - Special Someone

A few days before AKA and Burna released their first official collaboration together, Sarkodie brought them together. This was after AKA absolutely ripped a remix of ‘N Word’ by Ice Prince.

Till this day, the argument still rages on about which song was bigger or better between ‘All Eyes On Me’ or ‘Special Someone.’ While AKA and Sarkodie did well, this song was all about Burna’s hook.

AKA featuring Burna Boy, Khuli Chana, Yanga - Baddest

Almost a year later, AKA hoped to repeat the 'All Eyes On Me' formula with this song. It never quite popped off, but it had some buzz. For AKA, the song was meant to stabilize him after ‘Composure,’ a perceived diss track to Anatii and Cassper Nyovest.

Da L.E.S featuring AKA & Burna Boy - P.A.I.D

On the same run, and just before ‘Baddest’ dropped, Burna Boy gave another hook to AKA’s close friend, South African rapper, Da L.E.S.

On the third verse was Burna’s offering on a west coast Hip-Hop beat. The song was the first single off L.E.S’ third studio album, North God. When you watch the video, it feels like Burna was squeezed in because the track needed something from him.

Burna Boy featuring AKA, Kid X and Da L.E.S - Birthday

The final track that we will feature belongs to Burna Boy. After being released in December 2015, it was the final track of a busy South African sojourn for Burna Boy in 2015.

As an extra, Burna Boy and AKA also stole the stage from French Montana at the MTV Africa Music Awards in 2014 as the American rapper performed ‘Ain’t Worried About Nothing.’

Where things went sour will forever be a hot topic. While Burna Boy’s outburst at AKA must have surprised some, a lot of attentive Nigerians had been questioning their dry relationship over the past two years.