Bose Ogulu is a Nigerian academic, businesswoman and

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

. She manages her son

Burna Boy Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to stardom in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album, ''L.I. ...

's musical career and thus is also known as Mama Burna.

Early life

Ogulu is the daughter of Nigerian music critic

Benson Idonije Benson Idonije (born 13 June 1936) is a Nigerian broadcaster and music critic popularly known for being the first band manager of Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti. Regarded as one of Nigeria's most revered music critics, he was part of the pioneering ...

, who was the manager of Fela Kuti. With a Bachelor of Arts in foreign languages and a Masters of Arts in translation from

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was rank ...

, Ogulu had a successful career as a translator for the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce. She is fluent in English, French, German, Italian, and Yoruba. She then ran a language school called Language Bridges, where she organized cultural immersion trips for over 1,800 young people. In addition, she taught French for a decade at the University of Education in Port Harcourt, retiring in 2018.

Career

Ogulu manages the musical careers of her son Damini, who performs as

and daughter Nissi, who performs under her own name. She managed Burna Boy until 2014 and then became his manager again from 2017 onwards, gaining the nickname Mama Burna. She has collected awards for Burna Boy at various events, including the

All Africa Music Awards All Africa Music Awards (also referred to as AFRIMA) is an annual awards event. The awards event was established by the International Committee AFRIMA, in collaboration with the African Union (AU) to reward and celebrate musical works, talents ...

The Headies The Headies (originally called the Hip Hop World Awards) is a music awards show established in 2006 by the '' Hip Hop World Magazine'' of Nigeria to recognize outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry. The annual ceremony features p ...

and the

MTV Europe Music Award The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

. When she heard that Burna Boy had won the 2019 MTV award for Best African Act, she interrupted his show to tell him. When Burna Boy won four prizes at the 2018

Soundcity MVP Awards Festival The Soundcity MVP Awards Festival ("TheMVPs" or "MVP") is an event presented by Soundcity TV which awards plaques to musicians and performers across Africa. Since 2007, the winners are chosen by the viewers and fans by visiting #TheMVPs' website ...

, Ogulu represented him and caused a social media sensation by saying "Expect more madness". At the 2019

BET Awards The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...

in California, Ogulu stood in for her son to collect the award for Best International Act and gave a speech reminding African-Americans to remember "you were Africans before you became anything else" which resulted in a standing ovation. Bose Ogulu is the founder & CEO of Spaceship Collectivebr>
the holding company to Spaceship Records (an entertainment label) and Spaceship Publishing (a publishing outfit).

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogulu, Bose Nigerian women in business Living people Music managers Nigerian women educators Year of birth missing (living people)