Afrobeat sensation, Ibrahim Balogun Ayo who is better known by his stage name, Wizkid is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. On big stages, he is recognised as one of the Afrobeat gems that have soared the image of the firm to the highest spot in the view of hierarchy.
He is an Afrobeat maestro who has convinced millions of people to believe in the beauty of Afrobeat R&B condoned by the combination of African folk sounds and a discriminatory foreign sound.
This has reshaped him to an icon that attracts glory across every music firm in the whole world.
Early Life
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun was born on 16th July 1990 in Surulere Lagos to a Polygamous family. He grew up with twelve sisters and hardworking parents who are conjoined religious personnel. His father practised Islam while his mother was a pentecostal Christian.
After growth had evolved, Wizkid attended Ijebu Ode Primary and secondary school where he acquired his basic knowledge. Life escalated him to a musical passion which kicked off his career quest.
He loved listening to King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti and Bob Marley while he grew further. This even thrust him to form a group called Glorious Five with a couple of his church friends. They managed to release a couple of songs including an album that wasn’t professional.
He never attained the attention and expectation he needed but never gave up. His passion grew even bigger. He went by the stage name, Lil Prinz until 2006 when he changed it to Wizkid. His musical qualities kept modifying while he grew.
In his teen, he met a Nigerian icon and record producer, OJB Jazreel who prevented him from recording for a year. This was to infuse his musical qualities and introduced him to a new phase of genuine and professional music. He worked with him as a loyal servant and was opportune to watch 2 Face record his incredible album “Grace to Grace”.
This even inspired him and led him closer to his peak after he also experienced the recording of Sound Sultan’s debut album Jagbajantis. The adventure of life kept on impacting his life and perking up his dream. In that year, he met Naeto C and other unrecognised already established artists that coached and helped him achieve his peak at the age of 15.
Music Career
The year 2009 kicked off his professional music career after he signed a record deal contract with Empire Mate Entertainment (EME).
This time, he was open and opportune to connect with many superstars that reshaped him. He also worked with Naeto C, Ikechukwu and M.I gave him a top-notch combination that forced him to thrive for his greatest peak and a recognised music career. Having known what writing a professional song that went on to become a hit with his Boss, Banky W looks like, he considered recording his debut album. This also forced him to drop out of Lagos State University (LASU) even though he tried to pursue his educational goal at Lead City University a year after the incident. He still dropped out of the university and focused fully on his musical quest after just two sections.
In the space of the remaining months in 2009, Wizkid incredibly deployed what he has gathered for years in one project titled ‘Superstar’. The lead single of the album ‘Holla At Your Boy’ was released on 2nd January 2010 and instantly gained massive attention and love across the whole globe. Its perfection even earned it several major musical awards nominations including Best Pop Single which earned him the Next Rated award at The Headies 2011. He further decorated his award cabinet with additional musical awards including a 2012 Hyundai Sonata courtesy of the organizer’s award- an individual award presented for his album master class.
Singles from the album like ‘Tease me bad/guys’ and ‘Don’t Dull’ even earned him a rigid fan base who became obsessed with his musical qualities.
As supposed, Wizkid toured the likes of Houston, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Providence, Calgary, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Chicago with his hit songs and even gained global recognition that attracted top artists across the world. He kept diving into the real business until he met the Canadian beast, Drake who gave him the boost of his life.
However, Before this happened, Wizkid released his second incredible studio album ‘Ayo’. This project that featured the likes of Femi Kuti, Banky W, Seyi Shay, Phyno, Tyga, Akon and Wale earned a peak every single artist in Nigeria admired.
He got in contact with Drake and collaborated with him on the song “One Dance” which boosted his musical career. The song introduced him to his Billboard Master class and further attracted the likes of Lil Wayne who also featured him on a song that turned out to be a hit.
Having earned a bond with Drake, Wizkid’s ‘Ayo’ hit track, ‘Ojuwelegba’ that detailed his life struggle before fame attracted Drake who jumped on it for a remix with his colleague, Skepta. It became a global success and won multiple musical awards. From this instance, he gained massive confidence and released other multiple songs that reshaped his image to become the best in Africa.
In 2019, he won his First Grammy Award after deploying a master class in Beyonce’s album ‘The Lion King’ on the track ‘Brown Skin Girl’. The following year, he released the ‘Made In Lagos’ album that completely changed his life. This is because it gained massive attention across the globe to an extent that it bagged two Grammy nominations that he, unfortunately, lost to Angelique Kidjo. However, the disappointment never precluded the beauty of the album amid how one of the hit tracks ‘Essence’ featuring Tems won multiple global awards. He has grown to become a big Influence in the genre of Afrobeat.
Children and Baby Mamas
Throughout the whole of Wizkid’s career so far, he has attracted three women, Shola Ogudu, Binta Diallo and Jada Pollock to his image. In love and affection, they have gifted him Three Boys, Ayo, Boluwatife, and Zion.
Net Worth
Wizkid has worked so hard to earn a whooping net worth estimated at $45 million.
0 Comments