On the 24th of August 2023, Burna Boy released his 5th studio album ‘I Told Them…’. On the 15-track album, the record ‘City Boys’ immediately stood out and was a hit on arrival.
The song was produced by MD$ & Ruuben, and it was recorded in three languages, English, Yoruba, and Nigerian Pidgin.
In this post, we will be breaking down the lyrics as well as translating the Yoruba language part into the English language and the Nigerian pidgin part into the English language.
Intro
[Intro: J Hus]
Ayo, I’m not even gonna lie
I used to call myself a ugly yute, but I’m not even a ugly yute
I’m a sexy yute, you understand?
Gyal all over the globe wanna ‘uck me, you understand?
The intro is taken from a previous post on J Hus’s Instagram story. J Hus is a British rapper who has been called Ugly right from when he was younger and he embraced the name, even to this day his Instagram handle is @theuglygram.
J Hus was at a point of self-realization in life where he felt like “Yo! I’m not even ugly”, I’m actually good looking. He went on to eulogize himself as he talked about how girls around the world want to get down with him. Yute means Youth, it’s a UK slang that is used in referring to a youth person.
In an interview with Henrie on KISS Fresh, Burna Boy explained the use of the intro. He recalled the times when dark-skinned boys weren’t popping and were made to feel inferior and only the light-skinned boys got all the attention but all that has now changed and dark-skinned boys are on a roll now. Don’t take my word for it, watch Burna Boy explain it himself in the interview here.
[Verse 1: Burna Boy]
Girls inna my crib
Zero Snapchat, zero Instagram posting (Yeah)
Fuck up the vibe, my d*ck
Start fallin’ like London Bridge
I don’t care if I saw you in a magazine
Or if you’re on TV, that one don’t mean nothin’ to me
Don’t need a shy ho (I-I), baby, I need a freak
Lick it like ice cream
As if you mean to be disgusting (I-I), it’s nothin’, o
Chop my bana, once I halla
Then no stoppin’, o (I-I), go shoppin’, o
Fuck that (Yeah), shh (Yeah)
“Girls inna my crib
Zero Snapchat, zero Instagram posting (Yeah)”
Burna Boy starts off with giving us a quick detail on how a city boy party. Private party where a lot of things happen and no recording of whatever goes down in the party.
Girls inna my crib meaning girls in my house.
Zero Snapchat, zero Instagram posting: like I said above, what happens in the city boy’s house party stays in the house. No recording and no posting online.
“Fuck up the vibe, my dick
Start fallin’ like London Bridge”
Here Burna Boy is saying if you ruin the party vibe, it will be a big turn off for him, like sexual turn off, making him lose an er*ction.
“I don’t care if I saw you in a magazine (I-I)
Or if you’re on TV, that one don’t mean nothin’ to me
Don’t need a shy ho (I-I), baby, I need a freak”
Burna Boy is saying he doesn’t care if you are famous, that is your own business. The only thing he cares about and wants are freaky girls and that is the main requirement to party with the city boy.
“Lick it like ice cream
As if you mean to be disgusting (I-I), it’s nothin’, o
Chop my bana, once I halla
Then no stoppin’, o (I-I), go shoppin’, o
Fuck that (Yeah), shh (Yeah)”
Burna Boy gets a little naughty here, asking the girl to take in his s*men just how she would take an ice cream and also wants her to be nasty about it.
(Chop my bana in this context means eat my d–k, and once I halla means once I call)
[Chorus: Burna Boy]
Mi’ o fa colorado
BRKFST mo n fa o
Mi’o dẹ ni mu Jekonmo
Azul and Champagne ni ma mu o
I gеt girls from the ghetto
Get girls from uptown
That’s thе life of a city boy
Ah-ah-ah
“Mi’ o fa colorado
BRKFST mo n fa o”
It means I don’t smoke colorado, I smoke BRKFST.
Colorado in this context is a popular street drug also known as colos in Nigeria. A synthetic mixture. It contains heavy metals laced with chemicals, with weed as a mixture.
And BRKFST is a cannabis brand launched by Burna Boy in the US in October 2022
So Burna Boy is saying I don’t smoke the cheap stuff, I don’t smoke Colorado, rather I smoke premium stuff, that is his brand, BRKFST.
“Mi’o dẹ ni mu Jekonmo
Azul and Champagne ni ma mu o”
Mi’o dẹ ni mu Jekonmo means I don’t drink Jekonmo
Azul and Champagne ni ma mu o means it is Azul and Champagne that I drink.
Jekonmo is a cheap Nigerian herbal drink. People take it for strength for party, labour, some also drink it for sexual stamina.
So Burna Boy is saying he doesn’t drink the cheap stuff ‘Jekonmo’, rather he goes for premium brands like Azul and Champagne.
Basically describing how a city boy rolls. He doesn’t do cheap stuff, he rather goes for premium stuffs.
“I gеt girls from the ghetto
Get girls from uptown
That’s thе life of a city boy
Ah-ah-ah”
Burna Boy is saying here that he has all types of girls. He gat girls from the ghetto, girls that are usually called trenches babes and he also has them girls from the Urban areas.
[Post-Chorus: Burna Boy]
O yẹ kẹ (Yeah), da mọ
(You ought to/deserve to know)
O yẹ kẹ, jẹ lọ
(You ought to, eat it) That is you should know how he is and take him as he is, like eat it up)
O yẹ kẹ (Yeah), jọwọ o (Ayy)
(You ought to, please)
O yẹ kẹ, ah, o yẹ kẹ, eh
O yẹ kẹ
Burna Boy is saying this is how he is and you should know that already by now.
[Verse 2: Burna Boy]
Ma ma ṣe bakan bakan
(Don’t do/behave anyhow)
Make me dey start to dey para gan
(Make me to start getting angry)
Start to dey halla gan
(And begin to shout)
‘Cause you know say my people dey kala gan
(Cause you know that my people are angry)
Ogun l’oma pa wọn (I-I)
(The gods/ogun will kill them)
Ogun is the traditional deity of warriors, hunters, blacksmiths, technologists, and drivers in the Yoruba region. Ogun is a very popular and feared god among the Yoruba pantheon of gods, called the god of iron and war.
As they’re hatin’ on us, make we manya more
(As they are hating on us, let us enjoy even more)
Know I be my father’s son (I-I)
‘Cause you know say I come from Port Harcourt (Yeah)
Dance Rahman Jago (I-I)
(Rahman Jago is a very good friend of Burna Boy and a Nigerian businessman & socialite. He has previously appeared in the music videos of ‘Last Last’ and ‘Killin’ Dem’ by Burna Boy and he vibed and danced in the background in both videos. In this line, Burna Boy asks him to dance).
Start to dey dance am like I do
(Begin to dance as I do)
Koni tan l’apo
(It won’t finish in your pocket)
I go show you say pounds and dollar po
(I will show that pounds and dollars is plenty)
‘Cause I be city boy (I-I)
(Cause I am a city boy)
And as I dey for the streets e dey give me joy
(And as I am in the streets it gives me joy)
Lamborghini boy
Put diamonds on Jesus and I’m not religious, o da na (It’s good/E good na)
(Here Burna Boy is referring to the renowned Jesus piece chain. He said he puts diamonds on Jesus, which is on his Jesus piece chain, but he isn’t even religious).
[Chorus: Burna Boy]
Mi’ o fa colorado
BRKFST mo n fa o
Mi o de ni mu Jekonmo
Azul and Champagne ni ma mu o
I getti girls from the ghetto
Get girls from uptown
That’s the life of a city boy
Ah, ah, ah
(The chorus has already been explained above)
[Post-Chorus: Burna Boy]
O yẹ kẹ (Yeah), da mọ
(You ought to/deserve to know)
O yẹ kẹ, jẹ lọ
(You ought to, eat it) That is you should know how he is and take him as he is, like eat it up)
O yẹ kẹ (Yeah), jọwọ o (Ayy)
(You ought to, please)
O yẹ kẹ, ah, o yẹ kẹ, eh
O yẹ kẹ
[Outro: J Hus]
Ayo (I-I), I’m not even gonna lie
I used to call myself a ugly yute, but I’m not even a ugly yute (I-I)
I’m a sexy yute, you understand?
Gyal all over the globe wanna ‘uck me, you understand? (I-I)
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