By Adedayo Odulaja and Dayo Showemimo
The Merriam Webstar dictionary defines a ‘Whiz Kid’ as ‘a person who is unusually intelligent or successful especially at an early age’. This definition is the reality that defines the life and career of Nigerian music superstar, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly called Wizkid who turned 25 on July 16, 2015.
Born and bred in Surulere, an area of Lagos he remains infinitely proud of on July 16, 1990, Wizkid has by a measure of his talent, hardwork and proper guidance, risen to prominence in the Nigerian music industry.
By achieving fame and fortune before turning 20, Wizkid emerged the face of the new generation of pop stars, giving hope to a large mass of young Nigerians seeking success in the Nigerian music terrain.
In 2010, Wizkid was clearly the next emerging star and as a result of his resounding success, it became fine for any random 17 year-old kid on the streets of Surulere, Ajegunle, Ilasamaja and elsewhere to dream of becoming a music star. It became common for every music studio you went to in the hood to claim an affiliation with the boy now widely known as the Starboy.
They would say: ‘He used to record here, he used to learn here, he used to sleep here.’
He inspired several young people in Surulere at the time, sending out a clear signal that anybody could dream and start from whatever position. Before Wizkid, faith in the arts and music was still not all that encouraging, especially for young people. Wizkid was a new kind of star before the likes of Davido and Lil Kesh that we have all around now. Even if they deny it, it doesn’t change the fact that he inspired hope and belief in many of the young ones who came after him.
His ‘ridiculous’ success changed the music industry as we know it today and his emergence along with former label mate, Skales remains top on the list of Banky W’s achievement in the industry. This is owing to Banky’s foresight in handpicking and grooming the young man who has gone on to become one of the best artistes from Africa in the last decade.
Anything Wizkid touched turned to gold, as any song, feature or show becomes a hit and talk of the town following his involvement. His voice became embedded in the hearts of Nigerians, as his magic was further underlined at the earth-shaking concert for his Superstar album, which left everyone in awe of how far the young lad had come in so short a time.
Family Life…
Wizkid was born and bred in Surulere, a partly residential partly commercial area of Lagos. He is from a large family and the youngest of six children. In a 2012 interview with Tim Westwood, he revealed that he is a product of a polygamous home; his father has three wives.
He started singing at the age of 11, releasing a 7-track album entitled Lil in his church. He later formed a group called the Glorious Five with a couple of his friends and the group actually dropped an album before the members went their separate ways.
Wizkid’s path crossed with that of notable singer and producer, OJB Jezreel in a part of his Surulere hood and soon, he was visiting Jezreel’s Point Beats Studio in Gbaja frequently. Not exactly a studio rat but his love for music means he was almost always around the studio when he was not in school.
He notably watched 2face Idibia record the Grass 2 Grace album and Sound Sultan while the latter was recording his Jagbajantis album.
A year later, Wizkid, always eager to kick things off as far as music is concerned, started recording. He caught the attention of the industry upon featuring on M.I’s ‘Fast Money, Fast Cars’ as well as Kel’s ‘Turn by Turn’.
Following the signing of his recording deal with Banky W-led EME, Wizzy fired shots of what was to come with the song, ‘Holla at your boy’ released in 2010.
With several hits like Don’t dull,’ ‘Word up,’ ‘No lele’ and others, his debut studio album, Superstar dropped in 2011 to critical acclaim.
Controversy…
In his very eventful career till date, Wizkid has had his fair share of controversy and there are several of them in truth. Here are some of the notable ones…
On June 15, 2013, Wizkid was reportedly involved in a car crash along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos. According to an article posted on Silverbird Television’s website, he was briefly hospitalised for a minor concussion resulting from the wreck.
On 22 August 2011, NET reported that Wizkid had fathered his first child at 21 with an undergraduate student named Oluwanishola Ogudugu. Wizkid was silent about the story and in December 2012, he denied the baby scandal during an interview with Punch. In October 2013, Wizkid uploaded a picture of himself and his 2-year-old son, Boluwatife Balogun, on his Instagram account, confirming the story NET reported over two years earlier.
On June 19, 2013, Wizkid and his management team were invited by officers of the Nigerian Police Force for questioning. Charges of breach of contract were levelled against them by a group of Unilag students. The students claimed Wizkid agreed to perform at the UNILAG Sports Centre on May 21, 2013 but didn’t show up after receiving a total sum of N500k.
As at February 2015, in a space of 8 months, Wizkid had been involved in public spats with 4 different Nigerian acts including Davido, Skales, Saeon and Samklef. In the past, Wizkid has also had online face-offs with stars like Banky W, J Martins, Tonto Dikeh and Cyrus Da Virus.
Endorsements…
In 2012, Wizkid signed a one year endorsement deal with Pepsi. On May 28, 2013, Wizkid expanded his endorsement portfolio by signing a one-year deal with MTN Nigeria. On October 23, 2013, he signed an endorsement deal with Guinness for the Guinness World of More concert. On June 23, 2015, Wizkid confirmed ditching MTN for Globacom in a deal reported to be worth over N100m in total outlay.
The birth of Starboy Entertainment…
On March 5, 2013, Wizkid established his label imprint, Starboy Entertainment which he said is aimed at giving up-and-coming artists a platform to showcase their talent. On April 17, 2013, he signed Maleek Berry and brothers, Uzezi Oniko and Okiemute Oniko popularly known as Legendury Beatz to Starboy Entertainment. On August 20, 2013, Wizkid added a young act, L.A.X to the label.
International collaborations…
Wizkid is currently regarded as the leader of the new school as far as Nigerian pop scene is concerned. His efforts towards taking the African sound beyond the borders of the continent has steadily yielded positive fruits in the last 2 years.
After releasing the EME compilation album, Empire Mates State of Mind, the acts under the label toured the United States of America. The tour kicked off on July 4, 2012 and ended on September 2 same year, with the stars performing in several different cities, including Houston, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Providence, Calgary, Atlanta, Washington DC, and Chicago.
On an individual level, Wizkid toured London later that year, performing at the HMV Apollo and at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Live 02 Academy in Brixton alongside Trey Songz, Tulisa, Kendrick Lamar and Angel.
Wizkid was invited as a special guest for some shows in Tinie Tempah’s tour of the UK in 2014.
He also nailed a collaboration with American singer, Chris Brown on a yet-to-be-released song titled ‘African Bad Girl’ which they both performed for the first time in South Africa earlier this year during the American singer’s African Tour. His song ‘Ojuelegba,’ already considered by fans and experts as arguably his biggest ever, became a hit of international measure in July 2015 as American rapper, Drake and UK rapper, Skepta hopped on the song for a remix.
That unsolicited collaboration, like the one by Ghana’s Sarkodie on the same song, places Wizkid atop the list of international collaborations in Nigeria. When you add the collabo with Afrobeat king, Femi Kuti on ‘Jaiye Jaiye’ and several others with Jesse Jagz, Sound Sultan, Kcee and several others, there is no arguing Wizzy is the king on that lane at present.
As he continues to knock on the doors of international acclaim, much of which is made easy by his prodigious talent, it is difficult to think of what will stop Wizkid from hitting a major milestone in months and years ahead.
