- [Announcer] Hailing straight from Nigeria, Fireboy DML!
- [Fireboy] Performing live is a craft
that I've always wanted to you know, improve on,
ever since I came into this life.
It's- my life on stage is a different thing
entirely to what I do outside that.
So like it's something I've always wanted to improve on.
(low key Afrobeat music)
Learning that I was gonna be on the big stage
was a crazy feeling, to be honest.
It was two feelings because at first I realized
I was nominated then one as I was performing.
So like, oh, wow. This is huge.
Watching the BET awards over the years have always,
I mean any artist would want to perform on
the big stage, on the main stage.
So I felt blessed, felt excited,
and I knew what it would mean for the culture.
So yeah, that just doubled my excitement.
- [Tia Rivera] Good. You wanna take it from the top
all the way through?
Yes, yes, yes.
After we do this once all the way through
we'll fix this ending.
- [Fireboy] An outside rehearsal is basically
the rehearsal outside the actual stage
you're supposed to perform.
It's doing the same thing, but not in the same place.
- [Tia Rivera] Hold, two two. Boo, boo. Yes!
- [Fireboy] The creative BMA performance is electric.
It's very expansive.
This dance, there's a lot of movements.
There's a lot of energy.
And that's what African music is all about.
You know, that's what's always been about.
It's about the culture, about the energy, the vibe,
the rhythm.
African music is basically built to make you happy,
to make you dance, make you excited.
And that's what, you know, my performance is gonna be about.
There's gonna be a lot of choreography,
movements here and there, you know, interpolations,
and stuff like that, really looking forward to it.
Seeing the dancers, seeing the routine, learning everything,
just...it just changed everything for me.
It made me super excited.
It made me more willing to, you know, go harder
for this stuff and to nail it.
Cause I know what it would mean for the culture.
If I really nailed this performance
and it just changed everything for me.
(music finishes)
- [Tia Rivera] After this, you need to go around with her.
Even if you- even if you hold her here, boom, boom.
So that it feels more connected.
- [Fireboy] The beautiful thing about the offsite rehearsals
was that with each take, I was getting better at the-
at delivering every single part of the performance.
And my confidence grew with each time, we kept,
you know, taking it- another take I did.
And I'm just super glad that I learned,
picked up everything I was supposed to pick up.
(music finishes)
- Fire.
- [Tia Rivera] We'll just clean this little ending.
And then we'll, we'll head over to Microsoft.
- Walking into the Microsoft Theater was a dream.
Funny enough I was here last year to watch the BET awards
with my team, Empire, Olamide, my boss.
It was a different feeling.
I came out of spectator to watch, you know,
this time I was coming as a proper part of the culture
and it's aptly named "culture's biggest night."
I was mind blown by everything.
The organization, the lights, the stage, the sound.
As a performer sound is like up there with my priorities
when it comes to performing.
I'm performing Playboy and Peru.
Those two tracks are the tracks
that arrived out my third album coming out in August.
The album is tied to Playboy.
I selected those songs,
not because they're my most recent songs,
but because they represent the head space I'm in right now.
(Fireboy's "Peru" playing)
Woo!
Suh!
Let's go!
Where African music is going right now,
this album is another different head space.
I've learned to be more expressive,
took him out of my box to experience new things, new people.
I've been a kind of reclusive superstar
over the past few years.
And you know, last year when I recorded Peru
and the following few months when I recorded Playboy,
just changed my perspective on things
not to overthink stuff, to just lean into the music,
and just see where life takes you.
Fatima is a great boss, great leader, great teacher.
And as we got onsite, we realized we needed a few-
to change a few things because, you know,
working offsite is different from rehearsing onsite.
You realize that you could work the stage a little better.
And you know, she pointed a few pointers to me
about how I could use the stage to my advantage.
And that was something we didn't realize offsite
because it was a different environment.
Point of entrance, you know, stuff like that.
Yeah. She, we changed a few things when we got on site.
- [Fatima] Fireboy, take a step to your left.
Nope, Nope. To your right, to your right, right there.
Right there. Uh huh, yep.
- [Fireboy] As a Nigerian artist, as an Afrobeat artist,
as a portfolio of African music,
it's a big thing for the culture.
That's the work. And the representation is huge.
I feel like my performance is gonna herald
a big cultural reset in a way.
So that just makes this whole thing more exciting for me.
This is a big deal.
I learned that I'm probably the first Afrobeat artist
that's gonna be gracing this stage. That's just huge.
I'm nervous, (heartbeat)
but I'm telling myself I'm the greatest to ever do this
and I'm ready. And I was born ready.
I've been working with the best of the best.
And I feel like I'm gonna give,
so far, the best performance of my life.
Let's do this.
- [Announcer] Here to keep applying the pressure.
It's BET's first Afrobeats live performance.
Hailing straight from Nigeria, Fireboy DML!
(welcoming percussion music)
♪ Girl don't flex with a boy ♪
♪ Your body is a mad ting ♪
♪ She wanna roll with the mandem ♪
♪ When I drop you know it's an anthem, oof ♪
♪ Girl you wanna play with a big playboy like me? Oof ♪
♪ Girl don't flex with a boy ♪
♪ Your body is a mad ting (mad ting) ♪
♪ She wanna roll with the mandem ♪
♪ When I drop you know it's an anthem, ah-ah ♪
♪ Girl you wanna play with a big playboy like me? Ah ♪
♪ Girl you wanna play with a big playboy like me? ♪
(Fireboy's Playboy instrumentals)
Woo!
- [Fireboy] I'm performing for my people,
performing for Nigeria, for Africa, performing for Afrobeats
I'm performing for African music and
you know having those legends there,
I just wanna show them where African music has gotten to
and how much work is put in over the years.
And I just want them to see
that the work we've been doing all this years
has not gone to waste.
♪ Omoge no be so ♪
♪ Make me wan wombolombo ♪
♪ Peru para ♪
♪ Peru Peru para ♪
♪ I'm loo ♪
♪ Even Peru don dey para ♪
♪ Tonight in jozi, I'm in jozi ♪
♪ Mo n korin funwon won jo si ♪
♪ I'm not playing with you, I'm not joking ♪
♪ My third album is loading ♪
♪ Mi o kin fagbo but I'm on molly ♪
♪ I'm on duty, but I'm on low key ♪
♪ They wan do me, they wan do mi ♪
♪ They wan do me gan, they wan do mi ♪
♪ Won ni won wa mi, woni wo n wa mi ♪
♪ I'm in San Francisco ♪
♪ Won ni won wa mi woni won wa mi ♪
♪ I just flew in from Miami ♪
♪ Peru para ♪
♪ Peru Peru para ♪
♪ I'm loo ♪
♪ Even Peru don dey para ♪
(background vocals) (audience cheering)
♪ Peru para ♪
♪ Peru Peru para ♪
- [Fireboy] With this performance,
I hope that people get to see how
beautiful African music is.
♪ Peru para ♪
♪ Peru Peru para ♪
♪ I'm loo ♪
♪ Even Peru don dey para ♪
♪ Peru para ♪
♪ Peru Peru para- ♪
- [Fireboy] I wanna be remembered
as one of the greatest Afrobeat artists ever.
BET! They call me Fireboy DML.
Thank you for having me tonight. Woo!
♪ Peru don dey para ♪
(audience cheering and applauding)
- It was crazy. It was amazing, electric.
Everything I imagine man.
Afrobeat is here to stay.