The first thing  SPACESHIP Billy, said when the call connected was “suffering and smiling.” He laughed after saying it, setting the tone for a conversation that moved easily between serious reflection and humour. Nigerian-born and London-raised, Billy has spent the last ten years as the official disc jockey for Burna Boy, working alongside the artist through the growth of his career. His role within that world, however, extends well beyond the turntables. 

For Spaceship Billy, being Burna Boy’s official DJ involves more than selecting music for live performances. As he explained, “There's so many conversations that happen in the background.” He hears music before it is released and gives feedback on what he thinks will connect with different audiences, drawing on his own instincts and experience. Within the Spaceship Collective, he said, his opinion carries the same weight as other members of the team. “It's not seen as, oh, this person's just a DJ,” he said. “Everybody's input is taken on and it's seen as equal.” After ten years working alongside Burna Boy, Billy has become part of the wider creative process, contributing to decisions that extend beyond what happens on stage.

Over the past ten years, Billy has watched the stages grow from small clubs to stadiums, with each setting demanding a different approach. He pointed to the differences between New York and Atlanta, and between Toronto and Montreal, where the French influence can change the atmosphere of a room. Playing for a global audience, he explained, means recognising the cultures within it, even when the crowd has come to see the same artist. “You have to understand that although it's one artist and it's one vision, there's different kinds of cultures that you have to try and communicate with.” Years of touring with Burna Boy have given him experience adapting to those differences from one city to the next.

‍Method Man

Billy’s approach to production also depends on listening closely and being willing to change his mind. He described starting with drums, building the melody around them and removing anything that does not serve the track. Sometimes, he returns to a piece days later and hears it differently. “I might listen to the track one day, come back to it again and be like, nah, actually I don't like that bit,” he said. “Or I might have heard something somewhere else which has inspired the way I kind of feel about it again on another day.” What he hears outside the studio can change how he approaches a track when he returns to it, leaving room for new ideas to influence the production as it develops.

Afrobeats’ global rise is often discussed through its performance on Western charts, streaming numbers and international collaborations. Spaceship Billy offered a perspective shaped by growing up with the music long before that wider recognition. “Afrobeats has always been big in its own circles,” he said. During his university years, artists such as P-Square, Tony Tetuila, Magic System, Premier Gaou and Wizkid were already part of his listening, alongside the Fuji music his parents brought from Nigeria to London. “We were listening to Fuji music. I was even listening to Sunny Ade through my mum and dad.” His recollection speaks to a musical culture that was already thriving within the communities around him, even as its international profile continued to grow. When I pointed out that he had answered two of my questions at once, he replied, “Double wife,” and laughed.

Before he became Spaceship Billy, he was known as Bill Gates -- the DJ name he used in his early career sojourn -- he had built a reputation in his own scene before working with Burna Boy. It made the question of being identified primarily through his association with Burna Boy particularly interesting. When I asked whether it bothered him, he considered both sides. After ten years working with someone, he explained, the association is natural, much like being identified with the company you work for. At the same time, he had his own ambitions long before the partnership. “I was always a DJ in my own entity before Burna Boy. I was always kind of having that vision for myself.” He also sees the association as something to be proud of. “If they say you're Burna Boy's DJ, it's not a negative stance. I think it's more of an identification to greatness.”

Outside his work as a DJ and producer, Billy is involved in event management and the IT operations of the Spaceship Collective, alongside making time for the gym and his family. “It's not just deck one, deck two,” he said. “There's a business side aspect that I'm a part of.” Looking ahead, he wants to spend more time producing music and encouraging younger people to take education seriously alongside their creative ambitions. He sees understanding technology as especially important, warning that without knowing how things work, young people risk missing opportunities. “Things are going to go past you,” he said. “So I think that for me, something that I would like to kind of inspire in the younger generation.”

Over ten years with Burna Boy and the Spaceship Collective, Spaceship Billy has built a role that extends beyond the decks, contributing to creative decisions, production and the business behind the music while continuing to develop his own ambitions. He opened our conversation with “suffering and smiling,” a phrase that stayed with us as we moved between the serious and the funny, the work people see and the work that happens in the background.

Cover Credit: Spaceship Billy

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