A story from Port Harcourt’s music scene has resurfaced and is getting people talking after photographer Leon recalled an encounter between Duncan Mighty and a young Burna Boy around 2012.
According to Leon, he once took Burna Boy to Duncan Mighty’s house in Port Harcourt to seek a guest verse for the then-upcoming artiste. At the time, Duncan Mighty was already an established name in Rivers State, riding on the success of songs that had made him one of the biggest names to emerge from the city.
But the meeting reportedly did not go as Burna Boy hoped.
Leon said Duncan Mighty listened to Burna Boy’s unreleased songs but was not impressed enough to agree to the collaboration. He reportedly told the young singer that the songs did not sound good and declined to give him a verse.
The rejection allegedly hit Burna Boy hard. Leon claimed the singer cried during the journey home in his mother’s Honda, but even in that moment, he reportedly remained confident about where his career was headed.
According to the photographer, Burna Boy told him that one day Duncan Mighty would be the one looking for him for a feature.
More than a decade later, the story carries a very different meaning.
Burna Boy went on to become one of Africa’s biggest global music stars, winning a Grammy and building an international career, while Duncan Mighty remains strongly associated with Port Harcourt’s music identity and the title “Port Harcourt’s First Son.”
The old encounter has now resurfaced through Leon’s account, giving music fans another look at the unpredictable nature of the entertainment industry and the confidence it sometimes takes for an upcoming artiste to keep going after rejection.
