She’s the powerhouse behind one of Africa’s biggest music exports, and also the woman who raised him, Bose Ogulu, fondly known as “Mama Burna,” is more than just Burna Boy’s mother. She’s his manager, mentor, cheerleader, and one of the most respected figures in the Afrobeats industry today. In a recent interview, she peeled back the curtain on what it’s really like juggling her dual role as both mother and manager to the Grammy-winning superstar.
Balancing family and business is never easy, but for Ogulu, it’s a delicate art she has learned to master over the years. Speaking candidly, she acknowledged that working with family comes with emotional landmines, especially when professional decisions collide with personal feelings.
“Yes, sometimes it’s tough drawing the line between work and emotions. But I tell him: ‘Now your mom’s talking,’ or ‘I’m your manager, so yell at me,’” she explained. “It helps us feel supported, even in disagreements. Objectivity is hard, but we practice.”
This boundary-setting technique, she says, has helped her and Burna Boy maintain both a professional edge and a close-knit family bond. But her responsibilities have grown well beyond Burna. “Family extends beyond my kids,” she added. “Now I have 40 ‘kids’ on stage or touring with us.”
Indeed, Bose Ogulu is now the matriarch of a 40-person touring crew, all of whom rely on her guidance and structure on the road, a testament to the empire she has helped build.
But the journey hasn’t always been glamorous. Ogulu reflected on the early years, when she took on multiple roles, financier, administrator, legal reader, and planner long before the spotlight found them. “Before, they couldn’t pay me; I funded their music, read contracts, handled admin,” she said.
France holds a special place in her heart, not just for its influence on Burna Boy’s musical evolution, but for the memories they created as a family. “France is special because I speak French and took my kids on trips there (like Biarritz). It became part of their lives. We saw rock music everywhere,” she reminisced.
Switching roles, she admitted, can be complicated. “Switching from manager to mom hat? Easy if I was just a mom, I’d stay home. But this is my job.”
For Bose Ogulu, motherhood and management are not opposing forces, they’re intertwined paths that have allowed her to nurture both the man and the brand that Burna Boy has become. Her story is one of sacrifice, strategy, and strength, proving that behind every global icon, there’s often a quiet force pulling the strings, in this case, one who also happens to know his favorite meal and bedtime habits.
Mama Burna isn’t just part of the narrative, she’s helping write it.
