BNXN declares utmost respect for virtuoso GuiltyBeatz

Nigerian singer BNXN, formerly called Buju, has eulogised Ghanaian musician, record producer, and disk jockey (DJ) GuiltyBeatz.

According to BNXN, he has so much respect for GuiltyBeatz, and he expects others to recognise the producer's critical role in Afrobeats' current global ascendency given his position behind artistes such as the world-famous Tems.

Tems garnered her first Grammy award at the 65th ceremony earlier in February 2023 when Future's 'Wait For U' on which she and Drake featured was exalted as the Best Melodic Rap Performance.

On Monday, April 3, BNXN appeared on the Culture Daily TV programme on 3Music.

Lead-host Jay Foley echoed colleague-host CReal's observation that Afrobeats being in vogue is owed to creative and innovative producers who took the route of dynamism.

He said this after the 'Finesse' hitmaker BNXN had highlighted how essential genre amalgamation is to Afrobeats.

"That's why I say respect GuiltyBeatz so much," BNXN [pronounced Benson] reacted. "GuiltyBeatz!"

"GuiltyBeatz is literally like an instrument [by himself] to Tems' sound," he noted.

"Tems is literally one of the biggest females out of Africa," he touted.

People "might not understand" her phenomenon until "you probably go to America or Paris or something," he said.

He asked people to "go listen to the songs that are really the biggest" by Tems and notice that the Ghanaian producer "Guilty[Beatz] has a hand in it."

"He's staying in London but you can tell he's taken what he got here in Ghana, taken it to London tweaking every thread of it – tweaking it into something global," the 25-year-old star singer-songwriter observed.

He said the odd thing is GuiltyBeatz could advertise some of his creations to an artiste in Ghana and be turned down.

According to BNXN, the artiste would probably reason that: "This is not what's going on [or in fashion] here," because they have their eyes set on a local market in Ghana or Nigeria.

He questioned the mentality, calling attention to a new hit in Nigeria called 'Declan Rice' by ODUMODUBLVCK.

BNXN argued that the song, locally relevant, a hit, is unconventionally "Hiphop-birthed," or influenced.

He cited another example, this time by a Ghanaian.

"Bro, tell me why Kwaku the [Traveller] was the number one [song] in Nigeria," he said, referring to Black Sherif's viral hit.

"It's different," he explained. "It's not the regular Ghanaian thing."

Black Sherif, he said, "decided to [do] Trap [music in] a Ghanaian's way."

"You feel [understand] me?" he asked for dramatic effect, positing that the secret "is just fusion."

The fusion formula is "not anything new," he quickly added. "There's nothing really new. Everything is improved, fixed, tweaked, you know..."

Earlier, BNXN praised rapper Sarkodie for encouraging creative freedom whenever they have worked together.

He also eulogised Nigerian producers Maleek Berry and Phantom and artistes such as Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy for their creativity which spearheaded the Afrobeats phenomenon, in his opinion.

Meanwhile, GuiltyBeatz was behind the 2018 global 'Akwaaba' hit.

Subsequently, he worked with Beyonce on her latest albums: 2019's 'The Lion King: The Gift' and 2022's 'Renaissance'.

Born Ronald Banful, he primarily produced Tems' critically acclaimed 'If Orange Was A Place' of 2021 which houses hits like 'Crazy Tings' and 'Found' featuring Brent Faiyaz.

BNXN's latest song is an instant hit called 'Gwagwalada'.