CLAIM: Burna Boy says that Wizkid is the (g)od of Afrobeats, the Jesus of Afrobeats, and Davido is the Joseph of Afrobeats.
VERDICT: False! The video is an artificial intelligence-simulated copy of Burna Boy’s interview with The Breakfast Club four years ago.
Full Text
A video clip posted by Big 9 (@Innocentzikky_) shows Nigerian singer Damini Ogulu (Burna Boy) hailing his fellow male singers, Wizkid and Davido.
“At times, some people talk anyhow. They forget (that) Wizkid is the greatest of all time and he is the god of Afrobeats. I’m the Jesus of Afrobeats. Davido is the Joseph of Afrobeats,” the singer acclaimed.
This is one of the many occasions highlighting the rift between the trio and their idolising fans.
The 12-second video clip, which captures a close-up shot of the Nigerian singer, showcases him in a studio.
The tweet unsurprisingly attracted great engagement as over 1.2 million users viewed it, 1,910 retweeted, 390 quoted, 8,638 liked, and 944 bookmarked.
This is also not without the conflicting views trailing the tweet, with glaring sentiments thrown for and against the artistes.
“Wizkid and his fans are fraud(.) This proves it. Fake agenda everywhere,” Irene (@vaporeSSSSo) commented.
“Why Burna (B)oy go dey always think say he’s ahead of Davido(?) He’s a new cat(!)” i_am_jagaban, (@Davies_jagaban) wrote.
But there were also those in the comment section who passed the clip as having been digitally tampered with.
“AI na your mate(?) Burna Boy can never say something like this…” Suiphudeo (@suiphudeo) concluded
“It’s clear that AI (artificial intelligence) is being used. The robot(‘s) voice trying
to copy that of Burna is clear and funny at the same time.” WKHKYD?(@profdublyn) dismissed.
Due to the sensitivity of the claim, and the harmful disinformation it potentially poses, DUBAWA decided to fact-check the post.
Verification
During the initial observation of the video, DUBAWA aimed to identify its production’s qualities and distinctive features. Notably, certain elements in the singer’s body language raise concern. The lack of natural human gesticulation and facial expressions during speech, regardless of the mood, is evident. His unanimated demeanour and the unnatural coldness in his voice reveal an unemotional poise, which is unusual for the “Last Last” crooner. These signs are typical of AI-generated deepfake content.
The alleged video clip shows Burna Boy’s speech rhythm being unnaturally fast, which could clearly indicate artificial intelligence interference. AI can manipulate the genetic material to conform to a specific manner of speech, in this case, causing the accelerated pace in the video. It’s essential to consider the genuine characteristics of Burna Boy’s voice, such as his baritone and relaxed tone, as evident in other authentic instances, here, here and here.
What was also quite noticeable about the alleged video was that it bears an unmistakable resemblance to an interview video he had back in 2019. The full interview video was shared on YouTube; it took place four years before its seemingly AI-generated simulated copy was shared in July.
In the original video, Burna Boy was hosted by The Breakfast Club trio, DJEnvy, Charlamagne Da God and Angel Yee, on their radio station, Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM. The meeting had taken place the very week Burna Boy was set to release his fourth studio album, African Giant.
However, nothing of what the Nigerian singer allegedly said in the clip was actually said in the interview on the Breakfast Club. Burna Boy talked about the spotlight his music cast on Africa, his background, his 2019 Black Entertainment Television (BET) award, his mother as his manager, and the music icons who have influenced him.
To confirm our suspicion, we subjected frames from the simulated video to a more digitally scientific approach, using an AI-image-detecting tool, Hugging Face. After passing the clip through the tool once, it identified 100 per cent artificial intelligence property. To ensure the accuracy of its validation, we conducted another procedure, and the result was consistent.
Conclusion
The claim is false. The video clip is an artificial intelligence-simulated copy of an interview that Burna Boy had in 2019 with the Breakfast Club.
