Nigerian singer Burna Boy has said that powerful people in the entertainment industry tried very hard to stop him from becoming successful.

He shared this after Obi Asika, a well-known music executive and head of the National Council for Arts and Culture, talked about Burna Boy’s early struggles.

During an interview on the Afropolitan Podcast, Obi Asika said Burna Boy couldn’t even get a free performance slot in the beginning. He explained that because Burna Boy is from Port Harcourt and not Lagos, some people in the industry blocked him.

Obi Asika said, “They blocked him even when he was trying to perform for free. But now, Burna Boy has become so big that no one can block him anymore.”

Reacting to this, Burna Boy posted on Instagram saying that Obi’s version of the story is just a small part of what he went through.

“This is not even half of the story,” Burna Boy wrote. “They did everything they possibly could to break me. They’re still trying, but all they did was create a fire in me that will burn them forever.”

This isn’t the first time Burna Boy has spoken about being blacklisted by some people in the Nigerian music scene, including some in the media.

Despite all the challenges, Burna Boy has become one of the biggest stars in African music today.