Wizkid

WizKid is an Afro-beat/Hip Hop performer, born July 16, 1990 in Lagos, Nigeria.

He grew up the only boy along with 12 sisters. From them, WizKid “learned to listen to what women go through,” he says. “I also have a lot of female friends and pay attention to their stories. So a lot of my songs are inspired by the thoughts and feelings of women.”

His career in music began at his mother’s Pentecostal church where, as a child, WizKid discovered, not only could he sing, but he had a natural facility for writing songs. At age 11, he made his first album with a group called the Glorious Five. In 2010, he scored a massive hit with the song “Holla At Your Boy,” from his debut album, Superstar. His second album, Ayo, arrived in 2014. MTV EMA named him Best Worldwide Act in 2016. He became the first Nigerian musician to be featured on Billboard and the first musician to reach one million followers on Twitter.

In 2016, he was a featured guest on Drake’s #1 single, “One Dance”. He was signed to a multi-album deal with RCA in 2017, and released Sounds from the Other Side, his debut global mixtape. It featured yet another collaboration with Drake, “Come Closer,” along with songs featuring Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz and Chris Brown, to name a few.

His fourth album, Made In Lagos, was released in October 2020 and features “Essence”, which became the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. A remix of the song was released, adding guest vocals from Justin Bieber. In February 2021, he was the most-streamed Nigerian act of all time on Spotify.

In describing his sound, WizKid says, “It’s hard for me to describe what I do,” he says, “since I work with rhythms from Afro-Beat, reggae, hip-hop, dance hall and others. What’s important to me is for music to be real, authentic, raw and timeless. I don’t wanna be boxed in to any one genre.”

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