🔅 Burna Boy's Record-Breaking 'Last Last'
Plus: Pretty Yende to Perform at King Charles III's Coronation, Nigeria to Keep Old Bank Notes, Has Kenya Solved its Foreign Currency Problem?, Tropical Storm Freddy… again, And much more... ☕
Photo of the day: Mauritius
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Aramco Made HOW MUCH? Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, just posted a whopping $161 billion in profits—a 47% increase from last year. “This is probably the highest net income ever recorded in the corporate world,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said. Their secret? Oil prices, production pacts, and a demand for crude that's been on the rise since people started shaking off pandemic restrictions and returning to the office. To no one's surprise, the biggest customer of Aramco—the Saudi government—is reaping the rewards. It's even upping its dividend payouts to shareholders.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
ENTERTAINMENT
Burna Boy's Record-Breaking 'Last Last'
Burna Boy's Last Last is one of those songs that will make you drop everything and hit the dance floor. And apparently, the song's appeal isn't just in Nigeria – the US loves it too.
Just how much do they love it?
Enough to certify it Platinum. In less than one year since its release, Last Last was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after reaching 1,000,000 units sold in the US.
This makes it the fastest Afrobeats song to be certified Gold and Platinum in the US ever. It also made Burna Boy the first African artist to have multiple Platinum certifications in the US.
What's quicker than a speeding Burna Boy?
Wizkid’s Essence with TEMS had taken over a year to bag a Gold certification from the RIAA, and over two years to be certified Platinum. Rema’s Calm Down took nine months before it was certified Gold, and just under one year before it was certified Platinum.
Fireboy DML’s Peru took ten months for Gold and 19 months for Platinum until Burna Boy broke records.
Why is this song so popular?
Part of it has to do with the catchy sample of Toni Braxton’s R&B classic He Wasn’t Man Enough. The sample didn’t come cheap, but according to Burna Boy, the track has made more money than any other in his catalogue – even if Toni Braxton takes 60% of the royalties.
Nothing like getting the most bang for your buck.
The song's official music video, directed by Burna Boy himself, has also surpassed 171 million views on YouTube.
So, who's singing and dancing along to Last Last?
Everyone. It has spent 19 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 44, and 37 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 4.
And it was even nominated for a Grammy, so you know it's good.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇿🇦 Pretty Yende: Shattering Glass Ceilings at King Charles III's Coronation | South African opera star Pretty Yende is the first black person to perform at the coronation of a British monarch. When Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, were married in 1981, the New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, being Maori, represented her indigenous community. Now, 37-year-old Yende will be singing at King Charles III’s coronation on May 6 in Westminster Abbey, London, and some people think she should decline the invitation because of the legacy of British colonialism in South Africa. But it’s precisely Yende’s participation that will shatter the glass ceiling of yet another space from which Africans had been excluded for centuries. She comes from Mpumalanga, a rural province in the east of South Africa, and her ambition and drive have allowed her to conquer international singing competitions and perform in productions in the world’s major opera houses. Yende has also spoken out about her experiences of being black in a white-dominated opera world, and her activism stems from her experiences. She’s hoping that her performance at the coronation will be just as powerful. “Being the first black person to have a new production of La Traviata in Opera Garnier in Paris is huge for me,” she said. We can’t wait to hear her.
🇳🇬 Nigeria's Old Bank Notes: See You Later | Good news for cash-dependent Nigerians: The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to keep the old 1,000, 500, and 200 naira notes in circulation until the end of the year. This comes as a relief to citizens who rely on cash for everyday transactions and have faced major shortages of naira notes. The CBN said it was complying with the law, and President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement urging the CBN to obey the court order without delay. It’s not goodbye to the old banknotes yet; it’s just see you later.
🇰🇪 Kenya's Foreign Currency Problem | Kenya is struggling with a weakening shilling currency, so the country's energy minister has made a deal with two Middle Eastern companies—ADNOC and Saudi Aramco—to help alleviate the problem. They'll provide petroleum products to Kenya with a six-month credit period (far longer than it had previously been), which should cut down on the hundreds of millions of dollars the country needs to spend every month. Unfortunately, some folks aren't so sure this is gonna help, pointing out that it's just a postponement of demand. A group of private petitioners have taken the case to the High Court.
🇲🇿🇲🇼 Tropical Storm Freddy: A Disaster of Epic Proportions | If you thought your weekend was rough, spare a thought for Mozambique and Malawi. The two African countries have been hit hard by Tropical Storm Freddy—so hard, in fact, that the death toll is now at 136. The storm, which is one of the strongest ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, has been relentless, bringing torrential rain and wind that have destroyed homes, crops, and caused landslides. Power supply and phone signals have been cut off in some parts of the affected area, and the central hospital in Malawi’s Blantyre alone has received 60 bodies and is treating over 200 injured. With over a year’s worth of rainfall falling in the past four weeks, the situation is dire. Sadly, the destruction is likely to continue, as climate change causes tropical storms to become even stronger.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“To love someone who does not love you is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall.”
— Congolese Proverb.