Nigerian Afrobeat singer and grammy award-winning artiste, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, professionally known as Wizkid, turned 32 today 16th July as fans took to social media platforms to celebrate the legendary singer.
Wizkid who made his debut in the Nigerian music industry in 2011 is still making bigger waves both local and international.
In many ways, he has contributed in promoting Nigerian music in Africa and other parts of the world, with his songs gaining massive airplays and topping the list of both local and international music charts.
The Nigerian singer and songwriter started recording music at the age of 11 and managed to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed.
Wizkid has greatly contributed to the success of Afrobeats by fusing his sounds with that of other international musicians, thereby putting Nigeria and Africa on the map. The ‘Joro’ crooner has recorded a huge success in his music career, won many international awards like:
MTV Europe Music Awards (2)
• Soul Train Music Awards (2)
• BET Awards (3)
• NAACP Image Awards (2)
• Grammy Awards (1)
• AFRIMA (4)
• Billboard Music Awards (3)
Aside getting recognitions from International award organizers, Wizkid has worked with top European musicians like Beyonce, Drake, Wale, Tyga, Chris Brown among others. In 2019, Wizkid was listed among the African musicians to feature in Beyonce’s Lion King album. The song which Beyonce featured Wizkid in titled “Brown Skin Girl” became a hit and it won him his first Grammy award.
With the trending hashtags #WizkidAt32, #Machala, his fans, also known as Wizkid FC, took to Twitter to celebrate the star.
Wizkid was born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun on 16 July 1990, in Surulere, Lagos.He grew up in an interfaith household with twelve female siblings. His mother is a Pentecostal Christian and his father practices Islam.
Wizkid attended Ijebu Ode Grammar School. He grew up listening to King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti and Bob Marley.
In a radio interview with Tim Westwood in 2012, he said “his father has three wives”. In another interview with Adesope of Factory 78 TV, Wizkid said he formed a group called the Glorious Five with a couple of his church friends.They managed to release an album prior to disbanding. Wizkid went by the stage name Lil Prinz until 2006. He later met OJB Jezreel, a record producer who prevented him from recording for a year. While visiting OJB’s Point Beat Studios frequently, he watched 2 Face Idibiarecord songs for his Grass 2 Grace album. He was also present during the recording sessions for Sound Sultan‘s debut album Jagbajantis.
He cited Naeto C as one of the people who mentored and coached him when he was 15 years old. Wizkid inked a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment in 2009. He co-wrote “Omoge You Too Much”, a song from Banky W.’s The W Experience album.He also worked with Naeto C, Ikechukwu and M.I while developing his craft.
In mid-2009, he dropped out of Lagos State University (LASU). He later attended Lead City University, but dropped out after completing two sessions.
