Love, Damini
2022 studio album by Burna Boy
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Love, Damini is the sixth studio album by Burna Boy. It was released on 8 July 2022 through Atlantic Records. The album features guest appearances from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, J Hus, Vict0ny, Popcaan, Blxst, Kehlani, Ed Sheeran, J Balvin, and Khalid. It was supported by two singles, "Kilometre" and "Last Last". The album is named after Burna Boy's legal first name and serves as the follow-up to his previous album, Twice as Tall (2020).
| Love, Damini | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 8 July 2022 | |||
| Recorded | 2021–2022 | |||
| Genre | Afro fusion[1] | |||
| Length | 60:34 | |||
| Languages |
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| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producers |
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| Burna Boy chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Love, Damini | ||||
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Singles
One song from the album, "Kilometre", was released as an independent single on 29 April 2021.[2] Another single, "Last Last", was released on 13 May 2022, along with the announcement of the album.[3] The second single "For My Hand" featuring Ed Sheeran, was released on 8 July 2022 and coincided with the release of the album.[4]
Reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Clash | 8/10[7] |
| The Daily Telegraph | [8] |
| The Guardian | [9] |
| NME | [10] |
| Pitchfork | 6.7/10[11] |
Love, Damini received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 80 based on 10 reviews.[5] Kathleen Johnston of The Daily Telegraph awarded it a five star rating, saying "Love Damini is by far the most personal record yet from Burna and is best summarized as a love letter to his adoring fans, it is an album for the ages, as well as being an awards season shoo-in."[12] Will Dukes of Rolling Stone said "it is an urgent, heartfelt, and immensely personal snapshot of his struggles, triumphs, and aspirations, with the vibe and chorus signifying a bond between past and present perfectly embodied by this worldly album—that feels instantly rewarding."[13]
Robin Murray in his review for Clash wrote that on Love Damini, Burna is at his best either holding it down for his lineage pushing traditional sounds forward or tracing African influence beyond its shores.[7] Marcus Shorter writing for Consequence said "Love Damini delivers like an 80-pound baby, the Afrobeats album gets into the soul with Burna’s typical flair, but the insights are deeper as he wrestles with his desires, sins, triumphs, and treasures while entering the next phase of his life".[14] Jessica Kariisa in her review for Pitchfork said: "Glaring errors keep Love, Damini from reaching the heights of Burna Boy's prior work, but his intentions are admirable even when the execution goes awry. [...] Whatever its failings, Love, Damini paves the way for other artists in the scene to take bigger emotional risks".[15]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Glory" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo) |
| The Elements | 3:51 |
| 2. | "Science" |
| P2J | 3:21 |
| 3. | "Cloak & Dagger" (featuring J Hus) |
| 3:31 | |
| 4. | "Kilometre" |
| Chopstix | 2:32 |
| 5. | "Jagele" |
| Kel-P | 3:02 |
| 6. | "Dirty Secrets" |
| P2J | 2:31 |
| 7. | "Whiskey" |
| P2J | 3:23 |
| 8. | "Last Last" |
|
| 2:52 |
| 9. | "Different Size" (featuring Vict0ny) |
| Kvng Vinci | 3:29 |
| 10. | "It's Plenty" |
|
| 3:36 |
| 11. | "Toni-Ann Singh" (featuring Popcaan) |
|
| 2:55 |
| 12. | "Solid" (featuring Blxst and Kehlani) |
|
| 3:15 |
| 13. | "For My Hand" (featuring Ed Sheeran) |
| P2J | 2:39 |
| 14. | "Rollercoaster" (featuring J Balvin) | Skread | 3:07 | |
| 15. | "Vanilla" |
| ATG | 2:35 |
| 16. | "Common Person" |
| Telz | 3:30 |
| 17. | "Wild Dreams" (featuring Khalid) | 3:06 | ||
| 18. | "How Bad Could It Be" |
| 4:57 | |
| 19. | "Love, Damini" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo) |
| 2:22 | |
| Total length: | 60:34 | |||
Notes
- ^[a] indicates an additional producer
- ^[c] indicates a co-producer
- "Last Last" contains a sample of "He Wasn't Man Enough", performed by Toni Braxton.
- "Different Size" contains audio sampled from the Korean version of "Squid Game".
- Initial CD pressings do not contain J Hus's verse on "Cloak & Dagger", feature "Dirty Secrets" as track 10, and do not include "Toni-Ann Singh".[16]
Personnel
Musicians
- Burna Boy – vocals
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo – additional vocals (tracks 1, 19)
- Oise Benson – additional vocals (1)
- Gaetan Judd – guitar (2)
- Marco Bernardis – saxophone (2)
- Akerele Samson – background vocals (7)
- Asake – background vocals (7)
- Kwande Bawa – background vocals (7, 9)
- Olusola Ogundipo – background vocals (7)
- Jonathan Awotwe-Mensah – background vocals (9)
- Keven Wolfsohn – background vocals (9)
- Paul Bogumil – background vocals (9)
- Uncle T – background vocals (9)
- Tony Mars – saxophone (15)
- Nissi Ogulu – additional vocals (16)
- Shuga Saund – guitar (16)
- Jon Bellion – backing vocals, instruments, programming (17)
- Jordan K. Johnson – backing vocals, instruments, programming (17)
- Stefan Johnson – backing vocals, instruments, programming (17)
- Michael Pollack – backing vocals (17)
- David Campbell – conductor, orchestral arrangement (17)
- Steve Churchyard – orchestration (17)
- Jacob Braun – cello (17)
- Paula Hochhalter – cello (17)
- Ross Gasworth – cello (17)
- Dylan Hart – French horn (17)
- Pierre-Luc Rioux – guitar (17)
- Thomas Hooten – trumpet (17)
- Andrew Duckles – viola (17)
- David Walther – viola (17)
- Charlie Bisharat – violin (17)
- Joel Pargman – violin (17)
- Josefina Vergara – violin (17)
- Kerenza Peacock – violin (17)
- Mario De Leon – violin (17)
- Michele Richards – violin (17)
- Neil Samples – violin (17)
- Sara Parkins – violin (17)
- Sarah Thornblade – violin (17)
- Jorja Smith – additional vocals (18)
- Kamaru Usman – additional vocals (18)
- Naomi Campbell – additional vocals (18)
- Swizz Beatz – additional vocals (18)
- Dunni Alexandra Lawal – background vocals (18)
Technical
- Gerhard Westphalen – mastering
- Jesse Ray Ernster – mixing (all tracks), recording (3)
- The Elements – recording (1)
- P2J – recording (2, 10, 13)
- Eric Isaac Utere – recording (3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 14)
- Chopstix – recording (4, 7)
- Kel-P – recording (5)
- Otis Milestone – recording (12, 18, 19)
- ATG - recording (15)
- Telz – recording (16)
- Joe Begalla – mixing assistance
- Noah "MixGiant" Glassman – mixing assistance
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (2022) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[17] | 2 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] | 24 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] | 29 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[20] | 6 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[21] | 8 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] | 2 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[23] | 17 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] | 61 |
| Irish Albums (Official Charts)[25] | 23 |
| Nigerian Albums (TurnTable)[26] | 3 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[27] | 6 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] | 12 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] | 6 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts)[30] | 2 |
| UK R&B Albums (Official Charts)[31] | 1 |
| US Billboard 200[32] | 14 |
| US World Albums (Billboard)[33] | 2 |
Year-end charts
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[39] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[40] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[41] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[42] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[43] | Platinum | 15,000‡ |
| Nigeria (TCSN)[44] | 5× Platinum | 250,000‡ |
| Sweden (GLF)[45] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[46] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||