The Nigerian artiste, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, better known as Wizkid, who recently laid to rest his late mother, has further proven he is one of Africa’s biggest artistes as he received a total of five new platinum certifications in South Africa.
With this development, the award-winning singer once again showed his dominance of afrobeats, a genre that emerged in the late 1990s and new millennium, taking influences from hip-hop and other genres.
The Essence singer received the five platinum certifications for songs released off one of his biggest projects to date, Made In Lagos, with the hit song, Essence, now certified platinum for the seventh time, and his collaboration Ginger, which features Burna Boy, earned two times certified platinum, while other songs, No Stress, Longtime (ft Skepta) and True Love, received their first platinum certification each.
These certifications were not the only ones the Ojuelegba crooner received during the week, as three also came from Belgium. Born July 16, 1990, the singer and songwriter is a prominent figure in the modern-day afrobeats music scene. He is regarded as one of the biggest and most influential African artistes of his generation.
He began recording music at the age of 11 and released a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E).
He rose to the limelight after releasing Holla at Your Boy, the lead single from his debut studio album, Superstar (2011), which also spawned the singles Tease Me/Bad Guys and Don’t Dull. In September 2014, he released the self-titled second studio album, Ayo, which was supported by six singles, including the song Jaiye Jaiye.
In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the hit single, One Dance, which reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in 14 additional countries. The song broke multiple records, making him the first afrobeats artiste to appear in the Guinness World Records.
He signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records in March 2017, and released his third studio album, Sounds from the Other Side, later that year. The album was supported by five singles, including Come Closer featuring Drake. In 2018, he was featured on the song Checklist by Normani and Calvin Harris, which reached number-one on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.
In 2019, Wizkid was featured on Beyoncé’s project, The Lion King: The Gift, on the single, Brown Skin Girl, which also reached number-one on the World Digital Song Sales chart, and won him a Grammy Award for Best Music Video. In October 2020, he released his fourth album, Made in Lagos, which received commercial success and acclaim, reaching number-one on the Billboard World Album Chart.
The album includes the single, Essence, featuring Tems, which became the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the Top 10 following a remix released by Justin Bieber. His fifth album, More Love, Less Ego, was released on November 11, 2022.
