Some people think Adekunle Gold is cosplaying as Burna Boy in terms of his fashion and style.
To be able to answer this question, we have to dig into their individual style history, the similarities and differences in their style.
The style evolution of Burna Boy
When we first met Burna Boy in 2009, we met him on the set of his music video, ‘Like to Party.’ He didn’t have dreads on and wore a multicoloured shirt. In another shot, he wore a simple grey long-sleeve shirt.
Burna shot to stardom with his album, ‘Outside' released in 2019; and that was the birth of Burna Boy in long dreadlocks and a very distinct style.
He is usually styled by his sister, Ronami. Burna Boy's style used to be chaotic. He wore a two-piece with two belts at the BET Awards 2019.
In recent times, we see him curate a coherent look in terms of colour and prints. He has moved away from bomber jackets that were his style previously to two-piece trousers and shirt.
Nowadays, a calmer Burna Boy can be found after his album 'Love, Damini', sticking to one colour scheme and fewer prints yet, maintaining a personality and refusing to bore us style-wise.
His look for his Grammy 2021 performance was a suit with feathers and a sleeve that looked like it was falling off. He wore a similar outfit to the BBMAs, he never lets go of looking quirky. Burna Boy even trended online for wearing a crop top and cowboy jeans. He was compared to Gen Z musician Ayra Starr.
The style evolution of Adekunle Gold
Before his music career took off, he was a tech bro and in the typical tech bro fashion - and the fact that we were in the 2010s - he wore a lot of plaids, jeans, chinos, sneakers and glasses.
Nowadays, he doesn’t even go by Adekunle Gold anymore. He is AG baby. He went from ‘Orente no dey complain’ to ‘Love is not enough to come to me mo lowo.’
Adekunle explores colour, from orange to purple, no colour is off-limits for AG baby. AG baby is also the king of the two-piece.
Especially a loose flowing type, it gives some androgyny to this style and makes it quite alte, but as Gen Zs say, we love to see it.
What are the similarities in their style?
Dreads
They both love wearing their hair in dreadlocks. Though Adekunle Gold loves to pack his hair and Burna Boy has longer hair and sometimes Adekunle Gold does cornrows instead.
Diamond jewellery
Are you really rich if you don’t have a huge diamond on your neck? We think not, both of them are usually stacked. Burna had his Jesus pendant, it looks like Jesus, but it could as well be a self-portrait, Adekunle Gold has his diamonds that say, “AG”.
Jackets and two-piece
The truth is they both love long free-flowing jackets and matching two-pieces and that’s why many people think they have a similar style.
What are the differences in their style?
They have a lot of differences.
Adekunle’s Gold style is more feminine
Compared to Burna Boy, Adekunle Gold’s love for sequinned shining outfits, tight flared pants and bright colours is very different from Burna who usually likes dark colours.
Burna loves plaids
Burna loves plaid suits and Adekunle Gold does not. You would hardly see Adekunle Gold in a plaid suit, but you would catch Adekunle Gold in the same.
Burna Boy loves shorts
Even though they both love a two-piece, you are likely to find Burna in shorts but Adekunle won’t wear the same.
Adekunle Gold is more colourful
Adekunle Gold explores colours like pink, blue and orange while Burna Boy sticks to black.
Plus, there is nothing wrong with being inspired by another, inspiration is a form of flattery. But there is no imitation going on here.