“For the longest time, all I wanted to be, is what I am today, an icon, a symbol, no, much more, a giant.”
When i-D spoke to Burna Boy in 2018, he was on the cusp of finding new levels of international fame. Releasing his first album in 2013, it was the mixtape Outside, an upbeat and dancey record that mixed Yoruba and English and brought together features from J Hus, Lily Allen and Mabel, that dialled up the energy and brought his name to the world’s stage. In the years since, he’s worked with a slate of the biggest musicians (Beyonce, Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy…), won a Grammy, released three more albums — the latest of which, Love, Damini, dropped just the other day — and, as we’re here to discuss today, turned his hand to design with a Havana Club X Burna Boy limited-edition Havana Club 7.
You’ve probably spotted one of these Havana Club collaborations before. There’s the capsule collections of apparel Havana made with London-based label Aries and Amsterdam’s Daily Paper in the last couple of years. And last year, Skepta also took on the bottle, drawing upon a range of traditional Nigerian symbols — many of which found parallels in Cuban spiritual and cultural practices — to design a limited-edition bottle for the brand’s Añejo 7 Años dark rum. The result was a bottle aimed at finding the common threads that bind Cuban and Yoruba culture.
For Burna Boy, his take on the bottle also draws heavily on his own heritage, inspired by many different symbols and traditions of Nigeria. “Everything I pour into this bottle of Havana Club rum is inspired by the places important to me,” Burna says. There’s the traditional cultural headgear of South Nigeria, found in the tassels illustrated on the front label, and the multicoloured “Aso Oke” background – a hand-woven cloth created by the Yoruba People of West Africa that typically adorns gowns and hats for celebratory occasions. There’s also the incorporation of a palm leaf crown that wraps around the logo — an ode to the African Union emblem. Making the bottle even more personal, at the centre sits the words “Burna Boy”, handwritten by the artist himself, while the lower part of the label integrates the Rivers State region of Nigeria, where Burna was born.
Above all, this bottle celebrates the values Burna represents as a musician. “It takes a great person to overcome daily trials and tribulations, and an even greater person to intentionally decide that life is for living,” he says. “As we share in the beauty of culture, community and heritage, let’s celebrate in united liberation. Please remember that you are a GIANT, today and always.”
Learn more about Burna Boy X Havana Club here