Burna Boy: Criticism of the African Giant: A Nigerian Pop with Smooth Smoothness | The music

TThe distance between Burna Boy's fame in Africa and the West was traced on the poster of this year's Coachella Festival, where, to his dismay, he appeared four lines down. "I am a giant African and I will not be reduced to what it means", he is wrong on Instagram, the language may be at stake. "Repair quickly, please."

Indeed, in his native Nigeria, he is one of the biggest pop stars in the country and has been named Best International Actor at this year's BET Awards. After a previous album featuring British stars Lily Allen, J Hus and Mabel, African Giant secures the big names in America: Future, YG and Jeremih, while Jorja Smith, Damian Marley and Angélique Kidjo are in the game. This comes at a time when many black artists are audibly recognizing their African roots and so should be ready to give it a font size on the festival posters. And yet, there may be something a little modest about it to ensure true crossover potential.

This is not for a lack of charm or composition. Burna's voice is beautiful. All serious supplications are sung right next to your ear, with a tiny hint of roughness, as if you were using a single brush of sandpaper. He can promise to "snap his booty and choke" sounds selflessly on Secret, and specializes in rounded melodies in minor, firm, and delicate touches (especially those on Collateral Damage, Omo, and Dangote).

Afro-pop production, sometimes quite retro, can become generic, even if repeated on 19 pieces – Destiny's brilliant live electronic medium makes you want to enrich a little more scale – and lyrics in English can fall into the cliché of rap. Burna is unable to leave a club woman's eyes, etc., although this bland escape is hard won. When he sings on the title song: "Tell Africa we're done dying." The sharpest lines are kept for his Nigerian compatriots: his thoughts on postcolonialism in Another Story are in English pidgin, a true cultural pretreatment.

This misunderstanding and its sensual, rather stifled, music can make it difficult to cut through the pop of Western pop culture – but it makes it an elegant summer soundtrack.