Wizkid says music was his escape from crime

Afrobeats singer, Ayodeji Balogun, also known as Wizkid, says music was his escape from street life and crime.

The music star, in a recent interview, spoke about his early days and coming of age in the music industry.

He revealed that he might have veered off into a life of crime if not for music.
“Music was more than a hobby for me, more than a talent. It was my escape. I was in the hood. It was either music or turn to crime. That’s why I don’t joke with music,” Wizkid said.

“My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor. That was a very hard conversation to have when I said I wanted to make music.

“I had to just prove myself to them. They still look at me and think, ‘Ah ah, this boy!’ It took me how many years!”

“I’m a very spiritual human being. I know I make a lot of club records but I feel like a pastor, really,” he said.

Unsurprisingly it was at the church he discovered his love of music — hymns taught him “how to feel”, he says.

He was the youngest of 11 children, raised by a Christian mother and polygamous Muslim father, who had three wives. As his mother’s only son, he grew up in a chaotic, but fun house, dominated by women in Surulere, Lagos.