A young Nigerian man has captivated social media users after creating a remarkably accurate portrait of Grammy-winning singer Burna Boy using only keyboard characters. The video, posted on TikTok by user @holy_the_artist_backup, shows the artist typing various symbols on his phone screen, which gradually form a detailed likeness of the Afrofusion star.
How the Keyboard Art Was Made
In the clip, the artist first shows his face before zooming in on his phone keyboard. He begins typing a series of characters—including letters, numbers, and punctuation marks—that eventually assemble into Burna Boy's facial features. The process takes several minutes, culminating in a clear portrait with the singer's name spelled out in symbols at the bottom. The final artwork closely resembles Burna Boy's signature look, complete with his hairstyle and expression.
Social Media Reactions
The video quickly went viral, amassing thousands of views and comments. Many users expressed amazement at the talent and asked how the artist discovered his unique skill. One commenter, Phoenix, wrote: "Wetin be my own talent self? God I really need my talent now oo? If to say I get oo." Another user, Des Tinee, stressed: "It seems like my talent is to watch others talents... like how do you think of this." EBUBE noted: "But wait oo, how una dey take discover this talents." JUDE shared: "Did you discover you can do this on a random day when there was no light and data and you got bored?" Mrliberty wrote: "Bro you are going through a lot for you to discover this kind talent." Shanice0622 noted: "What sorcery is thisssss. Wwwooooooowwwww." Uncle K added: "How una take day discover say una sabi do these things." The comment botscave stressed: "Na I understand how powerful 0 and 1 are to computer understanding human input. Big ups bro DAWN. ASCII ART Explained: Been coding this lately." AkiDi™ noted: "We all voted football right." R E X wrote: "It’s obvious my talent is to watch other people talent." I’m Ade❤️ advised: "Screenshot the Image. Put em for software. Increase the tone and bold em well. Print em out as picture and frame em. E go sharp."
ASCII Art and Digital Creativity
The technique used by the artist is a form of ASCII art, where characters from the ASCII standard are arranged to create images. This art form dates back to the early days of computing and has seen a resurgence on social media platforms. The artist's ability to produce a lifelike portrait using only a phone keyboard impressed many, with some noting the complexity of mapping symbols to shades and contours.
Similar Viral Artworks
This is not the first time a Nigerian artist has gone viral for creating portraits of celebrities. In a similar story, a Nigerian artist shared a pen portrait of music star Davido, which he described as his first artwork of the year. The self-taught illustrator urged social media users to help the drawing reach the singer, and many praised the quality of the sketch. Another young Nigerian artist also went viral for pencil drawings of American musicians Chris Brown and Drake, attracting thousands of reactions and inquiries about pricing and time investment.
Impact and Recognition
The viral video highlights the growing trend of digital art among Nigerian youths, who continue to showcase their creativity on platforms like TikTok. The artist, @holy_the_artist_backup, has gained significant attention, with many viewers encouraging him to monetize his talent. The video serves as an inspiration for others to explore unconventional art forms and share their skills online.
