A decade on, we look back at some significant role Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, professionally known as Wizkid, has played in pushing African music to the world. The translation of his name in English is Joy, and no doubt his career over the years had brought Nigeria and Africa nothing but joy as he celebrated his being 30 yesterday.
He rose to prominence after releasing “Holla at Your Boy”( Released 2nd January 2010) with his former record label Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E), which was his lead single from his debut studio album Superstar (2011). He gradually became one of the leading Afrobeats superstars not only in Nigeria but in the continent of Africa and a massive following around the world.
His self-titled second studio album “Ayo” was released in September 2014 with songs such as “Jaiye Jaiye” featuring Afrobeat Legend Femi Kuti, “Show You The Money” and the now-classic “Ojuelegba,” produced by Legendary Beatz, which highlights the struggles the superstar endured as an upcoming artist.
The Wizkid brand was becoming more and more POWERFUL as he became the first Nigerian musician to have one million followers on Twitter in February 2014. He later featured Drake and Skepta on the official remix of “Ojuelegba” in July 2015.
The Wizkid brand went up a notch when he revealed the single “African Bad Gyal” as a collaboration with Chris Brown and said it would be the lead single from his third studio album, they both performed the song together at Chris Brown’s concert in Durban, South Africa in July 2015.
April 5, 2016, was another day to remember as Wizkid took African Music and the world by storm when he featured on Drake’s “One Dance.” The song was released for digital download and serviced to US urban, rhythmic and contemporary hit radio on April 12, 2016.
The song reached number -one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it stayed for ten non- consecutive weeks.
“One Dance” was an international hit, topping the charts in 15 different countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia. The song became wizkid’s first number-one single as a featured artist in these different territories.
In March 2017, He signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records and released his third studio album “Sounds From The Other Side” on 14th July 2017.
29th September 2017, Wizkid became the first Afrobeats artist to headline a sold-out show at the iconic Royal Albert Hall, as part of the Albert Sessions. It was a landmark honor for Wizkid, the Afrobeats genre, and Africans in the UK.
It was the beginning of a new dawn in the Afrobeats scene in the UK.
He became the first Afrobeats artists to be featured in the 2018 Guinness World Records for his contribution to “One Dance.”
26th May 2018, Wizkid became the first Afrobeat artists to headline a show at the prestigious 20,000 seaters 02 arena in London
The concert tickets were completely sold out two weeks before the event.
Wizkid is the only afrobeats artist to headline a show at the iconic 02 arena when he held Star Boy Fest on 24th October 2019. “Tonight isn’t about Wizkid, it’s not about Star Boy, it’s about African Music,” were the words echoed throughout the night by the Star Boy himself, and indeed he showed and proved that the movement is more prominent than him. Star Boy Fest is for the culture.
The crowd was lit up like a starry universe as Wizkid reminded adoring fans once again why African Music runs the world right now and how much more powerful the African sound is in unity than we could ever be isolated in different worlds.
Collaboration is truly king, and Wizkid is a king collaborator.
Wizkid released a new single “Smile” on his 30th birthday, 16th July 2020, featuring H.E.R.
His invaluable contribution to the Nigerian Music and African music industry is one of the reasons African music is prominent in the world.
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at SOA, right here.
