Credit: Alamy

Sports stars are closely aligned with hip-hop music. Lil Wayne has a song called ‘Kobe Bryant,’ Jack Harlow has a track named after Tyler Herro, and Wale has a record called ‘Barry Sanders.’ Rappers see similarities between themselves and some of the sport’s biggest names due to the grind and work ethic they put into their careers. Burna Boy followed a similar formula.

In 2020, he released his fifth studio album, Twice as Tall, which included a song called ’23’. The Afrobeats track is inspired by Michael Jordan, who wore that number on the road to becoming one of the greatest NBA players of all time, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.

Burna sings in the chorus of the song, “The music make me feel I be Jordan /(Woro si woro)/ (Koro ki koro)/ Now I understand why them say aiye po gan/ (O boy e plenty for my mind you go jisoro)/ N’kan ti mo ri/ Olorun mi o so tan.”

In a track-by-track album breakdown, the Nigerian artist revealed he made the song after watching the Netflix miniseries The Last Dance, which chronicled Jordan’s illustrious career with the Bulls.

“This is a shout to Michael Jordan, and the number he wore,” he told Apple Music. “And I think this came from when I was watching The Last Dance. I was watching that scene with Jordan describing the way he works and just how hard he goes to push those around him for greatness.”

He continued, “I related to that so much. Even about how lonely that road is, because you may have started with a bunch of people, even some guys that were probably better than you! And that’s really how it goes. There’s so much sacrifice to this that people won’t see.”

During an interview in 1995, MJ explained why he chose the number 23 in the first place. “Well, I had [number 45] in high school, and I had it all through high school and junior high,” he said. “The only reason I went to 23 was, my brother and I was on the same high school team together.

“He had the number before me, so I had to take half, which was 22 and a half, so I went over to 23. My father, he saw me in 23 last. I don’t wanna bring that jersey down from the rafters at all.”

Burna Boy has been a big basketball fan since he was a child. Before performing at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, he opened up about wanting to be a basketball player before becoming a musician.

“I’ve got too many, too many. I wanted to play basketball at first – I was in high school, where I was on the basketball team, and we used to kill everyone [laughs]. You get me?” he told the NBA. “Even before then, it’s always been a dream of mine to play basketball. The roads of life turn different, and yeah – I’m here, still at the NBA. I still made it to the NBA [laughs].”