Olamide has been quietly reinventing himself, and one of the most interesting parts of this process is his decision to learn and master the saxophone. In recent releases, he has been finding ways to incorporate saxophone solos into his music, adding another dimension to an artist who has already successfully transitioned from rapper to singer. With Burukuku, Olamide continues this evolution, exploring elements of jazz while holding on to the musical instincts that have made him successful across different eras of his career.
It is a direction worth applauding, especially because he is not simply abandoning what he knows to pursue something new. Instead, he is trying to bring his different musical identities together.
Olamide Brings Three Sides of Himself to Burukuku
Burukuku is a song that brings together Olamide the rapper, Olamide the singer and Olamide the saxophonist. However, the three elements do not receive equal attention. Rap remains the foundation of the song, with Olamide delivering several lines through steady rhymes and rhythmic flows, while his singing appears in selected moments. The saxophone, meanwhile, adds colour and character to the composition.
This arrangement makes sense because rap is still one of Olamide’s strongest musical tools. He understands how to ride a beat, maintain a rhythm and make his delivery part of the instrumental experience. On Burukuku, his flow works particularly well with the melody, allowing the song to maintain its momentum without relying entirely on a conventional sung hook.
The saxophone is what makes the experience more interesting. Rather than treating it as a separate experiment, Olamide uses its solos and musical accents to complement the rest of the production. His ad-libs also contribute to the song’s personality, helping to create a record that feels more deliberately constructed than a routine release.
There is still room for Olamide to develop this approach further, but Burukuku shows that his interest in the instrument can become a meaningful part of his music rather than just an additional skill to showcase.
Blaisebeatz Builds an Afrobeats Foundation with Amapiano Influence
Produced by Blaisebeatz, Burukuku is primarily an Afrobeats record with a light Amapiano influence. However, the production does not depend on the prominent log drums associated with much of the South African genre’s influence on contemporary Nigerian music. Instead, its percussion remains closer to Afrobeats, giving Olamide a familiar rhythmic foundation on which to build his performance.
The melody is one of the song’s strongest qualities. It gives the rapper enough room to explore different flows without making the instrumental feel disconnected from his delivery. The production also accommodates the saxophone without allowing it to overwhelm the other elements.
This balance matters because the saxophone could easily have become a gimmick if it had been inserted into the song without consideration for the arrangement. Here, it contributes to the overall sound, creating moments of variation around the rapping and ad-libs.
Blaisebeatz deserves credit for providing a foundation that allows Olamide’s musical ideas to coexist. The production does not completely transform Afrobeats into jazz, nor does it need to. Its strength lies in finding room for Olamide’s developing musicianship within a contemporary African pop sound.
The Yoruba Wordplay and Street Culture Behind Burukuku
One of the interesting aspects of Burukuku is how Olamide uses Yoruba, English and Nigerian street expressions to build the song’s character. His writing moves between boasts, cultural references, playful phrases and declarations of independence, giving the record the loose, conversational energy associated with his street-oriented rap.
The opening lines establish an image of movement and enjoyment. Olamide mentions Miami, Barcelona, New York City and Los Angeles, presenting himself as someone who can be anywhere in the world. The lines are less about telling a detailed story of travel than about communicating a lifestyle of success, freedom and access to different experiences.
He then brings the song back to Lagos with the line, “Emi omo Eko to ni Choko.” In this context, he is identifying himself as a Lagos boy while reinforcing the confidence and street identity that run through his music. The movement between international destinations and familiar Lagos references helps connect his present status with the environment that shaped his artistic identity.
His Yoruba expressions also give the verses a rhythm that goes beyond their literal meanings. Some phrases are selected for their sound, timing and ability to fit into the flow, while others carry cultural or street references that listeners familiar with the language and its context can appreciate.
The line “Agba awo ni mi no be otondo” presents him as an experienced person rather than a beginner. The contrast between an agba, someone established or experienced, and an otondo, an inexperienced person or newcomer, reinforces his confidence in his position within the music industry.
Elsewhere, Olamide uses the idea of knowing the vibe to draw a line between people who understand his world and those who do not. This is consistent with the song’s general attitude: he is comfortable in his identity and has little interest in explaining himself to people who cannot relate to it.
The verses also contain expressions whose meanings depend on local slang, pronunciation and context. Some are deliberately playful or sound-driven, so interpreting every line as a literal statement would miss part of the performance. What matters is how Olamide uses the language to maintain the song’s energy while making the lyrics feel rooted in his cultural environment.
Brukutu, Celebration and the Song’s Repeated Chorus
The chorus revolves around the repeated phrase “Ejor e fun mi ni brukutu,” which can be understood as a request to give him brukutu, a traditional fermented alcoholic drink commonly associated with parts of West Africa.
The repetition gives the chorus a communal, party-oriented quality. Rather than introducing a complicated melodic idea, Olamide uses a chant-like refrain that listeners can easily follow. The accompanying expressions, including “Ashimaju kutukutukutu,” contribute to the playful sound of the hook, although the full meaning of the phrase is not entirely clear from the lyrics alone.
The chorus reinforces the song’s general interest in enjoyment, socialising and living without unnecessary restrictions. It is not an emotionally heavy record, nor is it attempting to tell a conventional narrative. Its appeal comes from the combination of rhythmic rap, playful language, cultural references and an instrumental arrangement that gives Olamide room to experiment.
This is also where the song’s title and recurring refrain work together. The emphasis is on the atmosphere created by the performance rather than on a complex story that must be followed from beginning to end.
Confidence, Reinvention and Olamide’s Relationship with His Past
The second verse returns to the kind of confidence that has long been part of Olamide’s rap identity. Football references, insults directed at rivals and expressions of personal independence are woven into the verse. His reference to Kylian Mbappé, for example, draws on the footballer’s reputation to reinforce his own sense of confidence, while the Samuel Eto’o reference plays on the idea of someone who is no longer performing at their best.
The line “Fuck my past, I’m not going there” is particularly interesting in the context of Olamide’s musical evolution. It can be read as a declaration of moving forward rather than remaining trapped by previous experiences or versions of himself.
That idea fits the larger picture of an artist who has moved through different musical phases. Olamide has already demonstrated that he can build a successful identity around rap and later expand into singing. His current interest in the saxophone suggests another attempt to broaden his creative range without completely abandoning his established strengths.
The lyrics do not necessarily provide a detailed account of this personal reinvention. Instead, the connection becomes clearer when the song is considered alongside his recent musical direction. His confidence on the microphone and his willingness to explore a new instrument are two different expressions of the same desire to keep moving.
The song also maintains the street humour that has always been part of his writing. Some of the lines are crude, confrontational or deliberately provocative. They help preserve the unfiltered character of his rap, although not every expression contributes equally to the song’s overall substance.
The Shout-Outs and Playful Outro
Towards the end, Burukuku moves into a sequence of shout-outs and playful expressions. Names, neighbourhood references and phrases associated with Nigerian street culture appear alongside exaggerated words and humorous sound combinations.
This section is less concerned with advancing a story than with extending the atmosphere of the record. It feels like Olamide allowing himself to play with sounds, voices and expressions after the more structured verses. The references to Surulere and Ikorodu, for instance, bring familiar Lagos locations into the song, while the later sequence of phrases adds an intentionally unpredictable quality to the performance.
The outro also reinforces the sense that Olamide is enjoying the process of making the record. Rather than ending immediately after the main lyrical sections, the song gives him additional room to experiment with delivery and personality.
However, this extended section may not appeal equally to every listener. Some will appreciate the looseness and humour, while others may find that the song could have communicated its ideas more efficiently. Its effectiveness depends partly on whether the listener enjoys Olamide’s ability to turn playful vocal expression into part of the musical experience.
Burukuku Is a Noticeable Improvement in Olamide’s Recent Direction
At 5 minutes and 11 seconds, Burukuku is a relatively long song by the standards of contemporary streaming releases. That length is significant because the record gives Olamide room to rap, sing, introduce saxophone solos, experiment with ad-libs and extend the playful outro.
Length alone does not prove that an artist is making music for personal satisfaction rather than commercial reasons. However, in this case, the song’s different sections suggest that Olamide was willing to spend time exploring an idea instead of reducing everything to the quickest possible hook.
One of the most noticeable qualities of Burukuku is the sense of unity across its different elements. Some of Olamide’s more recent releases have felt disconnected in their musical direction, making it difficult to identify a single idea holding everything together. On this record, the rapping, melody, saxophone and production feel more closely connected.
That does not automatically make Burukuku a great song. Its length could be tightened, and its playful lyrical passages do not always offer the same level of substance as its strongest moments. The chorus is also more functional than exceptional.
Nevertheless, the record feels like a meaningful improvement. Olamide is not simply repeating an established formula or relying on his reputation to carry another release. He is bringing together skills he has developed at different stages of his career and attempting to make them work within one composition.
The result is a song with a clearer creative identity, stronger musical cohesion and a more interesting relationship between performance and production.
Final Verdict
Burukuku may not be Olamide’s best song, but it offers a convincing glimpse of what his next phase could become. The rap delivery remains assured, the melody is effective, Blaisebeatz provides a suitable production foundation, and the saxophone adds a distinctive element to the arrangement.
Most importantly, the song feels like Olamide is actively participating in his own reinvention. His evolution from rapper to singer already demonstrated his ability to adapt, and learning to incorporate the saxophone introduces another possibility for his music.
There is still work to be done before this approach becomes consistently exceptional, but Burukuku is a welcome step in that direction. Compared with the sense of disconnection found in some of his recent releases, this song feels more focused and more personally invested.
For an artist with Olamide’s experience, that willingness to keep learning and experimenting may be just as important as delivering another hit.
