Chris Ihidero Unedited: Wizkid – Unto us a star is born

By Chris Ihidero

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of directing performances for The Future Awards. At the pre-awards show, held at Terra Kulture, a very young Wizkid was one of the performers. This was in the early days of his career, and ‘Holla at Your Boy’ was his only ‘hit’ song at that point. A few minutes before his turn to perform, I went to where he was seated backstage and told him he’d be on in five minutes. He nodded and continued what he was doing: quietly rehearsing and trying to get into the zone. You could see the butterflies raging in his stomach. When he stepped on stage, though, all that nervousness gave way to a confident, perhaps cocky, young man who was determined to succeed. He rocked the audience that night and I took notice of him.

Here’s another story: After rocking a sell-out crowd at a concert in London last year, Wizkid and the EME crew were supposed to make an appearance at an after party at a club somewhere in London. When everyone gathered at the hotel reception downstairs to get into the cars and head out, Wizkid was nowhere to be found. He had been throwing tantrums lately, so one of the EME bosses stormed Wizkid’s room, ready to lay it on him and put an end to the childish nonsense he had been up to lately. On entering his room, he found Wiz and a London-based beatmaker/producer he had just met that day cooking up a song. Excitedly, Wizkid beckoned to him: ‘Boss, boss, come and hear this new joint…it’s crazy!!‘. The boss stood at the door shaking his head, his anger slowly ebbing away as he wondered where this young man, who had just finished a gruelling three hour concert, could find the strength to record a song with someone he just met, rather than go partying.

It was pretty easy to spot Wizkid’s potential early on in his career, but potentials don’t a star make. I was one of the skeptics that declared him a flash in the pan who would go the way of many before him; a couple of hit songs, peddle the fine boy looks for a bit and get relegated to the rubbish heap of has-beens. The past two years have proved skeptics like me wrong. Try to  count how many places you have been in Nigeria over the past 24 months where a Wizkid song wasn’t playing. Try to count how many collabos had a Wizkid hook on them. Try and imagine how many shows, parties, events, concerts did not have the Wizkid print on them in the same time frame. When you’re done, take a look around and notice artistes of a younger generation who are already attempting to sound like Wizkid. Wizkid is only 22 years old.

I’m sure many of you apostles of ‘real music’ are having a laugh at this point, wondering what exactly I’m going on about, since, according to your magisterial classifications, Wizkid and his likes are not making ‘real music’ and their ‘jollof rice’ music is merely a reflection of how debased current Nigerian music has become. Well, we shall have that debate some other time. Let me just say that I do find that declaration irritating, as I’d assumed that by now, we would all know that appreciating music (or any work of art, really) is subjective, and the only truly worthy justification any form of music requires is an audience that deems it worthy. That asinine argument about ‘disposable music’ vs. ‘classics’ is a fruitless enterprise, nothing more. Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E) was arguably the biggest label in the country in 2012, and Wizkid had a huge part to play in that.

I hadn’t seen Wizkid perform live since the performance I talked about above until last December at the E.M.E/R28 Baddest Concert. I came to a conclusion that night: Wizkid was born to perform. His confidence has grown astronomically. He strutted that night like a man who knows his stuff and knows his audience loves his stuff. He also came across as one who works on his act constantly. It was interesting watching him perform about five songs solo with a live band. It was even more interesting seeing him infuse a reggae flavour to his popular songs. He is so sure of  his essence that he’s willing to take risks. That’s the hallmark of a mature mind. There’s a lot about him that reminds me of a young 2face Idibia.

What does tomorrow hold for Wizkid? Will youthful exuberance derail him from achieving his full potential? He has already fathered a child; will he do more? Rumours of tantrums and clashes at E.M.E have made the rounds; for how much longer can E.M.E rein him in and keep him focused and loyal to the label? Will Wizkid self-destruct or go on to become the mega-star he has the potential to become?

Only time will tell. For now, I celebrate this star born unto us.