Wizkid is a Nigerian singer and songwriter whose real name is Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun. He was born on the 16th of July 1990 (Punch, 2013). His rise to prominence started in 2010 with his song titled Holla at Your Boy, after which he has sang a host of other songs including Superstar, Tease Me/Bad Guys, Don't Dull, Love My Baby, Pakurumo, Oluwa Lo Ni, etc. Wizkid’s songs incorporate elements of R&B, dancehall and reggae and Afro pop.
Wizkid has won a huge range of awards .The first award that was won by Wizkid was the ‘Next rated’, at the Headies in the year 2011 (Hiphopworldmagazine, 2013). In addition, he has been nominated five times at the MTV Europe Music Awards, three times at the American Music Awards, once at the Grammy Awards, as well as four times at the World Music Awards. All these have helped to improve his brand.
Wizkid, on the other hand, has been immensely successful both in and out of Africa. . He built his brand from being a whisper in the household to being an African artist. With hits after hits Wizkid has shown african music to the world. His major hit song ‘ojuelegba’ after 2 years of release remains the biggest song to have every made it out of the african continent as populations in the diaspora continue to demand for it. He is widely loved and celebrated all across Africa having huge fan base across many African countries including Ghana, Ivory coast, Sierralone and a host of others. He started his brand with Banky W’s record label EME (Empire Mates Entertainment) music in 2009. He gradually became well known in 2010 with the release of the song ‘Holla at Your Boy’ from his debut 2011 studio album, ‘Superstar’. As the quality of his music improved so did his fan base. And in February 2014, Wizkid became the first ever Nigerian musician to have over one million followers on Twitter. He started a record label which he named ‘STAR BOY’. The name encapsulated and embodied everything about the successful musician wizkid. The label has initially seen him sign Maleek Berry,and Legendury Beatz. He also has extended his business model, signing Efya, R2bees, and Mr Eazi as a unit to help project the brand (Joey, 2016). The success of his brand has pitched him to be the brand ambassador for Hennessy, an international renowned cognac produced by Moët Hennessy which merged with Louis Vuitton in 1987, to create one of the world’s largest luxury brand conglomerates. Wizkid has become Nigeria’s ambassador for music affairs, spreading our word far into the world. With his exploits so far, there has been a concerted global campaign towards African pop music.
Wizkid is one of the most successful Nigerian musicians with his music style being largely geared towards the Nigerian and African populace. Wizkid is currently the poster boy of Nigerian music and his influence and prominence is such that his peers aspire to reach his height. Recently his music has started gathering pace in the United States with his new single Shabba which saw him feature top United States artistes like Trey songs, Chris brown and French Montana. As quoted from the website hotnewhipop.com which confirmed that his music has just begun to take shape in the United States. Apart from the United States, he is currently moving fully with other international artists in collaborations to increase his market base. In recent years he has worked with international stars like Drake, French Montana, Trey Songz, Tinie Tempah, Wale, Chris Brown, Kayla and Swizz Beatz. His new song ‘Sweet love’ which is a fusion of Afrobeat and reggae included words from different languages that were not unique to his local dialect. To improve his image, Wizkid had to employ a publicity manager Jada Pollock.She is an image maker who has also been part of the team responsible for the successes of Chris Brown and rising artiste -Pia Mia. She overall helped Wizkid in his foreign publicity campaign. On the international front, Wizkid is managed by Disturbing London, a firm headed by Tinie Tempah. As a professional house, it takes charge of Wizkid’s exploits in the scene, monetizing at every turn, with the aim to make profit. This is an integral part of the Wizkid brand
Wizkid’s signature has always been keenly contested for by the top record labels his home country Nigeria and more recently in the global scene. In 2009, he signed his first record label with the Empire Mates Entertainment owned by another musician Banky W. He also signed a multi album deal with RCA Records/Sony Music International in 2017 (Kwaku, 2017). To confirm this was RCA Records chairman and CEO Peter Edge who was quoted to saying: "We are thrilled to welcome WizKid to the RCA Records family. He has become a superstar in the African music scene and will be a game-changer in bringing African music to the world. We are extremely excited to have him as a part of RCA and are eager for the journey ahead." This has helped boost African music recognition on the international stage.
Fig: Wizkid signing for Sony Music (Kwaku, 2017)
Wizkid has always been a great achiever and his song titled ‘one dance’ made him the first Nigerian artiste to make the Billboard Hot 100 which is the yardstick for the measurement of an artiste’s chart success and Top 2 spots and Twitter trending 140 charts (Uju, 2016). His collaboration with Canadian hip-hop artist Drake made him reach number one in fifteen countries including United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia, a feat that has not been achieved before by any Nigerian artist. This song has been his most commercially successful single to date. This song also made Wizkid rise to the third spot on iTunes/Spotify world artistes making him ahead of established worldwide musicians like Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Sia (Spotify, 2017). Also his song ‘one dance’ made him become Nigeria’s first artist to appear on Billboard’s Twitter Last 24 hours , which charted at number 2 and in May 12, 2016, the song reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it kept for 10 non-consecutive weeks (Trust, 2016).
FIG: Wizkid winning the Artist of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards
He is one artiste that doesn’t run short of endorsement deals, from MTN, to Globacom Nigeria, Pepsi. Wizkid signed a one year endorsement deal with the global brand Pepsi in 2012 which was speculated to be in the region of 350,000U.S dollars. It was also reported that he extended his contract for another two years with Pepsi (all Africa, 2012) Also it was reported that he signed another deal with telecommunications giant MTN in 2013 (premium times, 2013).Online news agency BellaNaija also reported that Wizkid signed an endorsement deal with Global beer brand Guinness for a concert that was named Guinness made for more in 2013 which was held in Lagos (Bellanaija, 2013). Another report by online news agency Pulse stated that he had signed another deal with another Nigerian telecommunication giants GLO worth a sum of ₦128 million naira deal in 2015 (Ayomide, 2015).
References
Ayomide. O. T., (2015). Pulse Exclusive Wizkid drops MTN for GLO, to earn N120m. Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
Drake Reunites Jay Z & Kanye West on 'Pop Style,' Taps Wizkid & Kyla for 'One Dance'". Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Guinness Nigeria Signs New Deals With Wizkid, Davido, Olamide & More For Their New Campaign. Bellanaija. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013
Guinness Nigeria Signs New Deals With Wizkid, Davido, Olamide & More For Their New Campaign. Bellanaija. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
Joey, A., (2016). Two years after leaving EME, singer is still making money for Banky W Retrieved from http://www.pulse.ng/buzz/wizkid-two-years-after-leaving-eme-singer-is-still-making-money-for-banky-w-id5337089.html
Kwaku, A., (2017) WizKid Signs Multi-Album Deal With RCA Records/Sony Music International: Exclusive retrieved from http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7708975/wizkid-signs-rca-records-sony-music-deal
Nigeria: Tiwa Savage and Wizkid Unveiled As Pepsi Ambassadors. allAfrica. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
P-Square, Davido, others ignite Guinness World of More concert. Vanguard. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
P-Square, Davido, others ignite Guinness World of More concert. Vanguard. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013
The Headies Present Next Rated Car to Wizkid. Hiphopworldmagazine. 13 July 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
Trust, G., (2016). Drake Scores First Hot 100 No. 1 as Lead Artist With 'One Dance. Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
Uju, (2016). Wizkid celebrates record breaking achievement with one dance https://answersafrica.com/wizkid-celebrates-record-breaking-achievement-with-one-dance.html
Wizkid first Nigerian pop star on Billboard chart. New Telegraph Nigerian Newspaper. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
Wizkid gets MTN endorsement deal. Premium Times Nigeria. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
Wizkid is the newest ambassador of MTN. Capital 98.4 FM. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
Wizkid pops N300m champagne at 23rd birthday bash?. Punch Nigeria. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
Joey, A., (2016) Does singer need to drop the 'Starboy' name? Pulse Retrieved from http://www.pulse.ng/buzz/wizkid-does-singer-need-to-drop-the-starboy-name-id5546380.html