nigerian singer and songwriter wizkid is septembers one to watch artist

Nigerian-born singer and songwriter WizKid is September’s ‘One to Watch’ artist!

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Born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun in Surulere, Lagos, WizKid kicked off his musical career in 2009 when he released his debut studio album, Superstar. ‘Holla at Your Boy’ was the album’s lead single and was released in January of 2010, and its music video was nominated for ‘Most Gifted Newcomer Video’ at the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards.

Then, between April and December of that same year, WizKid released the album’s second and third single, ‘Tease Me/Bad Guys’ and ‘Don’t Dull.’ Prior to the beginning stages of his career, WizKid dropped out of Lagos State University (LASU) in mid-2009, later attending Lead City University, but dropped out after completing two sessions.

Fast-forward to 2015, WizKid released the music video for ‘Ojuelejba,’ where it later received the remix treatment and featured vocals from Drake and Skepta. The remix preimered on OVO Sound Radio in July 2015 and in 2016, he was featured on Drake’s ‘One Dance.’ The song eventually reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained in the top spot for ten straight weeks, and it topped the charts in 15 countries. ‘One Dance’ became WizKid’s first number-one single as a featured artist in countries including the U.K, Canada, Germany, France, and Australia.

In March of 2017, WizKid signed a record deal with RCA Records and released his third studio album, Sounds from the Other Side. The album was influenced by the sounds of EDM, R&B, house, and Afrobeats, and featured guest appearances from Drake, Chris Brown, Major Lazer, Trey Songz, and Ty Dolla $ign. The album produced three singles – Daddy Yo featuring Efya, Sweet Love, and Come Closer featuring Drake.

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Later that year, WizKid appeared on a song titled ‘Checklist,’ which is featured on Normani and Calvin Harris’ EP, Normani x Calvin Harris.

One of his most recent collaboration with Beyonce, Blue Ivy, and SAINt JHN earned WizKid his first Grammy win for ‘Best Music Video’ for ‘Brown Skin Girl.

Wizkid’s is set to tour in the US starting in September and his recent track “Essence” featuring Tems has received tons of recognition and streaming activity. The record debuted on the Billboard hot 100 chart, is heading to top 25 at urban radio, is currently #6 on the US Shazam chart and has received a ton of DSP and playlisting support.

Fun WizKid Facts:

Wizkid became the first Nigerian musician to have over one million followers on Twitter in February 2014.
Wizkid became Nigeria’s first artist to be listed on Billboards Twitter Last 24 hours chart on April 5th, 2016.
Wizkid became the first Afrobeats artist to appear in the 2018 Guinness World Records for his contribution to “One Dance.”
His song “Soco” became his first Afrobeats single to be certified Gold in Canada.