Wizkid

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Wizkid, who was born Ayodeji Balogun in 1990 in Ojuelegba, a district of Lagos, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He began recording at eleven, in a group with friends from his church, and grew up on the music of King Sunny Adé, Fela Kuti and Bob Marley. In 2009 he signed with Empire Mates Entertainment. His debut album Superstar came out in 2011, with the single Holla at Your Boy, and in 2014 Ayo followed.

Music and breakthrough

His international breakthrough came in 2016 with One Dance, a collaboration with Drake that reached number one on the American Billboard Hot 100. In 2017 he signed with RCA Records and Sounds from the Other Side was released. In 2019 he contributed to Brown Skin Girl on Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift. Made in Lagos from 2020 contains Essence with Tems, the first Nigerian song on the Billboard Hot 100. A remix with Justin Bieber took it into the top ten. More Love, Less Ego followed in 2022 and Morayo in 2024.

Influence

His music mixes Afrobeats, Afropop, R&B, reggae and dancehall. Wizkid is one of the faces of the Afrobeats movement that broke through worldwide in the 2010s, and shows that pop music from Lagos can compete in the Western charts too.

Listening

• 
  Essence · Wizkid feat. Tems, 2020
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 2011Superstar
• 2014Ayo
• 2017Sounds From the Other Side
• 2020Made in Lagos
• 2022More Love, Less Ego
• 2024Morayo

Mentioned in other articles

• Afrobeats GenreWizkid, Davido and Burna Boy became global stars; Wizkid sang on Drake's One Dance (2016), and Burna Boy won a Grammy in 2021.

See also

• Ayo