Afrobeat star, Wizkid is one youngster whose swift rise to the top wows everyone. The Ojuelegba sensation is undoubtedly one of the most sought after African Afrobeat stars of his generation. Afrobeat fuses the melodic sense of West African percussive sounds with a range of sounds, including Dancehall, Soca, Jazz and Soul, to arrive at a truly Pan-African mix.
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Wizkid
1. His real name is Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun
Wizkid is a Nigerian singer and songwriter born on July 16, 1990 in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria. In an interview with Adesope of Factory 78 TV, Wizkid said he formed a group called the Glorious Five with a couple of his church friends. They managed to release an album prior to disbanding. At the time, he went by the stage name Lil Prinz until 2006. In 2009, he inked a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment, signaling his entry into the music industry.
2. Wizkid collaborated with Drake on the hit single “One Dance”
“One Dance” was a song that flexed multiculturalism, and has been described – rather eccentrically – as having an afrobeat pulse inside a UK funky sample inside a dancehall gyrator. Produced by Boy-1da, “One Dance” is one of the best selling songs of all time, and is also one of WIzkid’s biggest song of his career. Drake, like the many listeners before him, felt the pulse of the song when Wizkid had him listen to it, and knew its importance in the sort of project he was working on. Wizkid in an interview, described the song himself as “a perfect marriage of many things,” and was the first of three singles which helped push Views (Drake’s fourth album), to huge commercial success. He’s now one of Nigeria’s biggest Afrobeats crossover acts, having worked with Drake, Skepta, and Chris Brown.
3. His musical inspirations include King Sunny Ade and Fela Kuti
King Sunny Ade is seen as the undisputed king of juju music, the dance-inspiring hybrid of western pop and traditional African music with roots in the guitar tradition of Nigeria. On top of that, Fela Kuti was a producer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader with a larger than life personality. Kuti combined the raw guitars and jazzy undercurrents of traditional highlife with tight horn arrangements, electrifying polyrhythms, and politically charged lyrical content for the creation of Afrobeat. Wizkid also cited Naeto C as one of the people who mentored and coached him when he was 15 years old.
4. Wizkid rose to fame with the hit single “Holla at Your Boy”
At 19 years old, Wizkid was rocking the radio stations in Nigeria with his hit single “Holla at Your Boy“, beginning his journey to stardom. The song, produced by DJ Klem (Knighthouse) and Vebee, is the first single from his debut album Superstar. Initially, it left fans debating if the song was sung by a Nigerian. In the smooth tune with western-infused lyrics, the singer urged listeners to wave at him when they saw him drive by. It was bold, fresh and a hit. The song was nominated for Best Pop Single, and earned him the Next Rated award at The Headies 2011. In addition to winning the award, he was awarded a 2012 Hyundai Sonata courtesy of the organizers. Its music video was nominated for Most Gifted Newcomer Video at the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards.
5. He performed and sold out The 02 arena in London
In May 2018, and then October 2019, the rising star sold out the O2 Arena, becoming the first African artist to sell out the venue twice. The second one just showed his impact in the Afrobeats scene, as international acts like London’s Afro B and veteran Grime artist Skepta performed on his stage. Nigerian acts like Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Naira Marley, budding stars Fireboy DML and Oxlade also joined him to mark what was one of the greatest nights celebrating the African sound, and also the music of black artists in the diaspora. Later on in 2021, Wizkid sold out his O2 Arena show in 12 minutes. Two more dates were added at the 20,000-capacity venue, both of which proceeded to sell out as well: the second in just two minutes. The 02 is an iconic and world-famous London landmark and is the world’s most popular music venue, having sold out gigs for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and Beyonce
6. His hit song “Ojuelegba” peaked at No. 1 on Capital Xtra’s Afrobeats Chart
Wizkid has stood at the forefront of the afrobeats’ global penetration since the release of “Ojuelegba” – a song which charted his humble beginnings from a Lagos suburb – which marked his international breakthrough. Ojuelegba was a great cultural moment. More than just spurring a slew of covers from artists, it inspired an official remix with Skepta and Drake. It is justified to say that WizKid has come a long way, since his first official music video “Holla At Your Boy.” He revealed in an interview with Fader magazine that he didn’t expect it to be a hit song: I knew “Ojuelegba” was a good song, but I didn’t expect it to blow up the way that it did. My parents still live there. We have a house there.” Nonetheless, “Ojuelegba” has enjoyed countless airplays and has further added to his star power.
7. He was featured on Beyoncé’s project The Lion King: The Gift on the single “Brown Skin Girl”
Wizkid has several times and unequivocally proved himself as the African Starboy and a global megastar. In 2019, the song “Brown Skin Girl” was released off of the Beyoncé-led The Lion King: The Gift album. Besides Wizkid, the song also featured Blue Ivy Carter and rapper SAINt JHN. The song’s music video made it to Beyoncé’s Black is King visual album, which also featured numerous African artists. In a 2019 interview, Wizkid said of the song, “Making that one was, like, special. Especially the fact that the song actually empowers women to be comfortable in their skin.” The artist further said that he felt good every time he saw little kids and their moms singing the song.
8. His fourth album, Made in Lagos, reached No. 1 on the Billboard World Album Chart
Made in Lagos ably showcases Wizkid’s mastery of his craft with a passionate appeal to the very pop sounds—expert use of the saxophone, trumpets, drums—that have made his music globally revered. The album features a titular ode to the sprawling West African state. The album is also a stunning melting pot of sounds from Afrobeats to jazz, reggae and soul. The biggest song of the album was the “Essence” remix featuring American Pop star Justin Bieber and Afrobeats superstar, Tems. However, Wizkid’s SFTOS could be said to have paved the way to other artists making deliberate efforts at pushing Nigerian music internationally, with rossover moves like these having been given the sensationalist Afrobeats to the World tag. Wizkid also became the first and only Nigerian and African artist to have his album sell above 500,000 copies in the United States and be certified Gold.
9. Wizkid won his first Grammy for the hit single “Brown Skin Girl”
The song “Brown Skin Girl” which Beyonce featured Wizkid won the award for Best Music Video in the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. The multi-award-winning Nigerian musician has won many awards. His collaboration on the hit single “Brown Skin Girl” saw him win a Grammy award. The “Brown Skin Girl” video also starred Beyonce, and her daughter with Jay-Z, Blue Ivy, who is now one of the youngest artists to ever receive a Grammy award. Directed by Beyoncé and Jenn Nkiru, the video acts as a celebration and affirmation of the beauty of dark-skinned women. Although Nigerian artists have been on the list of Grammy nominations and a few wins and other global music awards, none has ever received at least 5 BET Soul Train Awards nominations or stayed for weeks on the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But Wizkid who traces his roots to the streets of Surulere can now boast of such feats.
10. He has his own record label ‘Starboy Entertainment’
Starboy Entertainment was founded by Wizkid in 2013 alongside other music producers including Maleek Berry. As part of a new generation of young Nigerian talents, Wizkid is always repping his hometown in Lagos, whether it be in collaborations with the city’s new vanguard of hitmakers, such as Tems and Tay Iwar, or starting a record label to promote local talent. As one of the hottest acts in music today, the Afrobeat star has risen alongside an explosion of new listeners for the genre worldwide. Rather than embrace a rift-like relationship with his industry colleagues, he does the opposite, sharing his stage with many established and up-and-coming acts.
11. He became the first African to hit 1 billion streams on Apple music
Wizkid is arguably one of Nigeria’s most talented artists – even though he has had his less than great moments. For him, the numbers and accolades have brought exposure to his music. His new listeners going back to listen to his music and taking note of his eclectic sound and voice. Wizkid hit over one billion streams as a lead artist on Apple Music, making him the first African to achieve it. This comes weeks after Made In Lagos hit 500 million streams on the same global music streaming platform. The artist has also reached over 1.3 billion YouTube views, 1.16 billion Spotify lead streams, and 4.6 billion Spotify total streams. He also became the first Nigerian musician to have over 1 million followers on Twitter.
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