Profile: Wizkid

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), also known as Wizkid is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and performer. Wizkid started recording music at age 11 and manage to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. In the Year 2009, he signed a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). He rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song “Holla at Your Boy” from his debut studio album, Superstar (2011). “Tease Me/Bad Guys”, “Don’t Dull”, “Love My Baby”, “Pakurumo” and “Oluwa Lo Ni” were also released as singles from the Superstar album. In February 2014, Wizkid became the first ever Nigerian musician to have over 1 million followers on Twitter. Ayo, his self-titled second studio album, was released in September 2014. It was supported by six singles: “Jaiye Jaiye”, “On Top Your Matter”, “One Question”, “Joy”, “Bombay” and “Show You the Money”. Following the release of his second studio album and expiration of his 5-year recording contract, Wizkid left E.M.E.

In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the global hit, “One Dance”, which reached number one in 15 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. In addition to his solo work, Wizkid has collaborated with several other artists and was featured on the hits “Girl” (with Bracket), “Fine Lady” (with Lynxxx), “Sexy Mama” (with Iyanya), “Slow Down” (with R2Bees), “The Matter” (with Maleek Berry), “Pull Over” (with KCee) and “Bad Girl” (with Jesse Jagz). Moreover, he became the first Afrobeats artist to appear in the 2018 Guinness World Records for his contribution to Drake’s hit song “One Dance”