What Burna Boy's Song "Gbona" Means In English

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series about Burna Boy and his 2018 hit song "Gbona".

Part II quotes some commenters from the discussion thread of the YouTube video for Burna Boy's song "Gbona". Those comments provide explanations in English about some of the lyrics in that song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/burna-boy-gbona-official-music-video.html for Part I of this series. Part I provides information about Burna Boy and showcases the official YouTube video of his 2018 song "Gbona".

The Yoruba/Nigeria Pidgin English lyrics for that song are also included in that post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/documenting-global-reach-of-nigerian.htmlhttps://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/documenting-global-reach-of-nigerian.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III presents selected comments from the discussion thread of the YouTube video for Burna Boy's song "Gbona". Most of these comments document the global reach of that song.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purpose.

All copyrights remain with their owners. 

Thanks to Burna Boy for his musical legacy and thanks to all those who were associated with this video. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this song on YouTube.

**** 

SHOWCASE VIDEO

Burna Boy, September 27, 2018 

****
WHAT BURNA BOY'S SONG "GBONA" MEANS IN ENGLISH
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7WfPHHXCAY (The discussion thread for this video)

(These comments are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. )

1. Jamaican Pride 777, 2019"LOOOVE this song so much.. ask me some of what he’s saying,,, I don’t know . But whatever he’s singing about sounds damn good...nuff love straight out a 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲"

**
REPLY
2. Alexandra Nwakaego, 2019
"@Jamaican Pride 777 when the gbedu dey enter body literally means when the vibe hits your spirit

**
REPLY
3. Jamaican Pride 777, 2019
"Alexandra Nwakaego thank you appreciate it,,soon know everything he’s saying now by the help of u guys. Respect"

**
REPLY
4. Sehito19, 2019
..."The intro states Kilo! Kilo!-Yoruba for What! What!- as in what’s going on, what’s up? Dem dey say I dey craze, I no normal, but me I go spray you di money o Onyeoma.- They say I’m crazy, that I’m not normal but I will shower you with money Onyeoma (the girl). You suppose to know say me no be newcomer- You should know I’m not a newcomer....."

**
REPLY
5. Kevin Ngaleu, 2020
"What does Gbona means please?. From Cameroon. Peace,"

**
REPLY
6. tomite2001, 2020
" "Hot..... !!!..... So "Mo Gbona Feli"  means "I am too  damn...hot!!!""

**
7.  SB, 2019

"When you are about to leave the club then you hear "Killa Killa!!!!""

**
REPLY
8, Zjeni, 2019
"REVERSE quick"

**
REPLY
9. Anjeyo Ananda, 2019
"You shaku your way back in there"
-snip-
For information about the Nigerian dance "shaku-shaku", click https://guardian.ng/saturday-magazine/shaku-shaku-the-origin-and-enablers-of-the-viral-street-dance/#:~:text=Shaku%20shaku%20is%20a%20dance,feet%20and%20is%20largely%20freestyled 

for the 2018.Guardian magazine article entitled"Shaku-Shaku, the origin and enablers of the viral street dance".

In December 2019 a commenter with the screen name La Nour Chaîne wrote "1:24 shaku", indicating that the Shaku-Shuku dance is performed at that time in that video.
**
REPLY
10. Sehito19, 2019
"Good Music Actually he’s saying kilô kilô as in what what ( kilôdé-what’s up/ what’s going on)

**
REPLY
11.  SB, 2019
"@Sehito19 How about the word  "Jesu! " he uses it a lot."

**
REPLY
12. Sehito19, 2019
"Good Music it just means Jesus! As in Christ- an exclamation or a way of swearing. "

**
13. Saint Pepsi, 2019
"@james ndungu sorry for asking but what does Oluwa mean?"

**
REPLY
14. Adaora Igweagu, 2019
"floral shoppe Oluwa is name for God in yoruba meaning Lord"
-snip-
Burna Boy's middle name is Ebunoluwa" meaning "Gift of God" (https://www.names.org/n/ebunoluwa/about). In his song "Gbona", Burna Boy changes his name to Oluwa Burna (colloquially meaning "Lord Burna").

**
15. Joe Williams, 2019
"Had to type "when the gbedu dey enter body " to find this song.  How some of us search for songs is crazyyyy...lol"

**
REPLY
16. diamond baithey, 2019
"what does it mean? :D cause In Ivoirian slang, it sounds dirty"

**
REPLY
17. fade1283, 2019
"@diamond baithey in this context, gbedu means rhythm. Gbedu itself is the traditional yoruba word for a type of base drum. the rhythm from gbedu drum tends to be sorta like the 808 sound."

**

18. Fredee merit Jessie, 2020
"Gbedu means sweet vibes."

**
19. sky team entertainments, 2020
"I don't understand a thing he,s say am a Jamaican but its lit"

When di benta enta pawty

**
REPLY
20. Charles brown. 2020
"When the gbedu Dey enter body—— when the gbedu(beat/music) gets into your body/spirit/soul then all the girls go shake their body👍🏾"

**

21. DIKE DANIEL, 2020
"When the gbedu dey enter body.. Means

 when u r feeling the music vibes in ur body"
**

22. Charles brown, 2020
"When the gbedu enter body; gbedu means beat. So when the beat enters body all girls will shake body"

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
Here are some additional explanations for lyrics in Burna Boy's song "Gbona":

Regarding the line "Kil P vibes" = Kel P is the producer of this song. Giving a shout out to the song's producer appears to be a custom in some Afrobeats songs. 

-They say I dey craze, I no normal"
But I dey spray you with money." - They say that I'm crazy, that I'm not normal, but they honor me by spraying me with money".
-snip-
This  2013 pancocojams post http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-african-custom-of-spraying-money.html#:~:text=%22Spraying%20money%22%20is%20the%20act,the%20couple%20with%20good%20fortune provides some information about "spraying money".  Here's an excerpt from that post: 
"Spraying money" is the act of placing paper money on the forehead or over the head of a woman or a man or a couple on special occasions such as their wedding or birthday. This cultural practice symbolizes showering the person or the couple with good fortune.

Spraying money is also the act of placing paper money on the forehead or over the head of a singer, musician, dancer, master/ mistress of ceremony, or minister at an event to show appreciation for that person's talent or skill."

**
"pikin" = The word "pikin" means "children", but I don't know what this line means " See small pikin wey dey para, wey dey gagaga".

****
Please add other explanations for the lyrics to Burna Boy's song "Gbona" in the comment section below. Thanks in advance!

****
Update: June 11, 2020 6:00 PM EDT
Here's an excerpt from an article that I found in another search for English lyrics for Burna Boy's song "Gbona":
From https://ogefash.reviews/2018/10/17/music-review-gbona-by-burna-boy-is-burna-boy-in-this-song/  (+ Lyrics) Music Review :Gbona by Burna Boy "Is Burna Boy In This Song", 17 Oct 2018

..."Lyrically– The lyrics are punchy but the lines in the verses are not interrelated; though most of the lyrics in entirety complement the title of the song “Gbona”. For instance the lines in the Verse 1 do not quite connect well especially the last two lines. The first two lines seem different from the last two lines. The song comes in
two short verses and three choruses. He sang mostly in pidgin but fused it with  Yoruba and Igbo.

[...]

BREAKDOWN OF THE SONG
In the chorus, “When the gbedu dey enter body, enter body” the artiste says when a song is out of the ordinary (as in ‘odi’ very interesting) and the girls are feeling it, they are left with no option that to dance to the song.

In the verse 1, “Dem say I dey craze, I no normal” the artiste says he is still a nice person “Onyeoma” even though people think he is berserk. He also says he has been in the music industry for long.

In the verse 2 “As I dey sing, dem feel the pulse”, the artiste says people are enjoying and dancing to his music. He says he is very hot “Gbona” and it is really not explainable. Hence the reason for the proverb “I no fit tell you as water enter coconut.”

WHAT DOES THE SONG “GBONA”BY BURNA BOY MEAN

“GBONA” is a Yoruba word that means hot. The artiste basically says he is very hot in the music industry because people are enjoying his good songs and dancing to them as well. He also says he and the people around him are in money and they are enjoying life “Jeun soke.” They have the money to do what they want to do, even call the police or better still, silence the police on a robbery case; if you know what I mean.

MEANING OF SOME WORDS

Jeun soke- chop up, to be in money, to live better;    Ezioku– The truth

Looku looku dada– (Look well);          Pulse– Beat

Onyeoma– Good person                        Gbona– Hot;    Gbona Feli– Very hot

Pikin– Child

SOUND

A melodious song I must say. The afro-beat style of rhythm is certainly interesting to the ears. The lyrics flowed well with the beat and the instrumentals were well arranged. I could hear the intense beating of the drums which played its part to enhance the beauty of the song. Even though he was not expressive enough while singing the lyrics, I can categorically tell you that his vocals were rich enough."...

****
This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.