Burna Boy’s ‘Last Last’ Is The Fastest Afrobeats Song In History To Be Certified Platinum By The RIAA
Burna Boy’s summer hit Last Last is now certified Platinum in the United States, less than one year after its release. The song, released in May 2022, later appeared on the Nigerian star’s sixth studio album, Love, Damini.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Last Last was certified Platinum on Tuesday (March 7) after it reached the sales and streaming equivalent of 1,000,000 units sold in the US.
It is the fastest Afrobeats song to be certified Gold and Platinum in the US, surpassing 500,000 units in just 25 weeks and 1,000,000 units in 9 months.
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 9 months before it was certified Gold, and just under one year before it was certified Platinum, while Fireboy DML’s Peru took ten months for Gold and 19 months for Platinum.
In Canada, Last Last was certified Platinum after it surpassed 80,000 units sold in the country in November 2022, according to Music Canada.
One month later, it was certified Platinum in the UK after surpassing 600,000 units in that country, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Last Last was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Performance but ultimately lost to Bayethe, a song by the South African trio Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini & Nomcebo Zikode.
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.
The song’s official music video, directed by Burna Boy himself, has surpassed 171 million views on YouTube.
Chopstix produced the song with a sample of Toni Braxton’s 2000 R&B classic He Wasn’t Man Enough. The sample didn’t come cheap, but according to Burna Boy, the track has raked in more money than any other in his catalog.
“I’ve made more money from Last Last than any other song in my whole career in a short time and I just dropped it like one month ago,” Burna revealed in an interview while clarifying reports about royalty sharing between him and Braxton.
“The 60% royalties that Toni Braxton takes is being misunderstood, she does not get 60% of the whole thing but just one little part,” he explained.
This is the second Platinum certification for Burna Boy in the US.
His 2018 hit Ye, which appeared on his Outside album, hit the milestone in January 2023, while On The Low, off the album African Giant (2019), was certified Gold in April 2022.
In the UK, Burna has three other songs with Platinum certifications, namely Location, a collab with Dave, which is 3X Platinum (1.8 million units), Be Honest with Jorja Smith, which is Platinum (600,000 units), Own It with Stormzy and Ed Sheeran, which is Platinum (600,000 units).
His Gold-certified song (400,000 units) in the UK is Play Play with J Hus, while Ye, On The Low, and Simmer with Mahalia are all certified Silver. (200,000 units)
In Canada, On The Low, Ye, and Location with Dave are all certified Platinum, having exceeded 80,000 units sold in the country. His songs Anybody and Gbona are currently certified Gold in Canada for sales exceeding 40,000 units.
Burna, 31, whose real name is Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, won the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album with Twice As Tall (2020).