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Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born July 16, 1990) is a Nigerian music superstar. Wizkid became a national sensation after the release of Holla At Your Boy, the lead single in his chart-topping debut album, Superstar.
He rose to the international limelight in 2016 after he lent his vocals to Drake‘s award-winning song, One Dance, which was a global hit.
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Wizkid Birth
Wizkid was born to the family of Mr. Ibrahim Balogun and Mrs. Jane Dolapo Balogun on the 16th Of July 1990. He was born into an inter-faith household, where his father is a Muslim while his mother adhered to the Christian faith. His parents named him Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun.
A native of Ogun State in the South West region of Nigeria, he comes from a large family as he has twelve siblings, who are all females. He was raised in a polygamous household in the Ojuelegba district of Surulere City in Lagos State. His father is married to three wives.
He spent his early years in Lagos City, which exposed him to the rich Nigerian music culture and helped foster his passion for the discipline. As a young boy, he attended church regularly with his mother and other siblings and participated in activities relating to the choir unit of his local church.
By the age of 11, he had co-founded a music group called Glorious Five, and they released an album before separating to pursue solo careers. At that time, he went by the stage name, Lil Prinz.
As he grew into teenagehood, he began visiting the recording studio of iconic Nigerian producer OJB Jezreel and became acquainted with the older artiste. OJB Jezreel acted as a mentor for Wizkid. His path also crossed with rapper, Naeto C at the age of fifteen, and the two developed a mentor-mentee relationship. The turn around moment of Wizkid‘s career occurred when he was discovered by music executive, talent manager, and singer Banky W.
The Baloguns didn’t lag behind responsibility in giving their son a quality education. Wizkid attended top private schools in Surulere for his primary and secondary school education.
After obtaining his West African School Certificate, he gained admission into Lagos State University. After that, he dropped out of the university.
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Wizkid Music and Networth
In 2009, Wizkid signed a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment which was owned and managed by Banky W. He began recording his debut album titled Superstar and released the album lead single, Holla At Your Boy, on the 2nd Of January 2010. The song was an instant hit, winning him the coveted Next Rated Artist award at The Headies in 2011. The album racked up numerous nominations, going on to win the Best Album Of The Year at the 2012 Nigerian Entertainment Awards.
By 2012, Wizkid had begun recording his second studio album, Ayo, which was completed and released in 2014. Earlier in May 2013, the album’s lead single, Jaiye Jaiye, had been releasedEarlier in May 2013. The song had Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti as a featured artist.
While in October 2013, he dropped On Top Your Matter, the album’s second single. This hit was produced by Del B. After the expiration of his contract with E.M.E, he left the record label to become an independent artist, founding his own record label.
At the start of the new year (January 2015), Wizkid released the song Ojuelegba. After signing a record deal with RCA Records in March 2017, he dropped his highly anticipated third album, Sounds From The Other Side, in July 2017. The album contained notable works like African Bad Gyal featuring American singer, Chris Brown, Expensive Shit, Daddy Yo featuring Efya, Come Closer featuring Drake, and Sweet Love.
In 2016, Wizkid was guest featured on Drake‘s hit single, One Dance. The song helped him gain greater international exposure as it reached the number one position in Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying there for 10 non-consecutive weeks. The song also topped music charts in fifteen different countries. Due to his involvement with One Dance, he became the first Afrobeats artist to appear in the 2018 Guinness World Records.
Also, in 2018, leading international singers, Normani and Calvin Harris reached out to Wizkid to collaborate together. And the trio released the single, Checklist that year, which was a huge success. As the song rose to the number-one spot on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. In 2019, he was invited to work on Beyoncé‘s album, The Lion King: The Gift. He was featured on the single, Brown Skin Girl alongside SAINt JHN, Blue Ivy Carter, which went on to win the Grammy Award For Best Music Video in 2021.
In October 2021, he released his fourth studio album, Made In Lagos, which was a success internationally, as the album found its way to the number-one position on Billboard World Album Chart. One of the album’s singles, Essence, featuring fellow Nigerian singer, Tems, became the first Nigerian song to appear on Billboard Hot 100. The song also made it to the top ten spots after the remix with Justin Bieber. In February 2021, he was the most-streamed Nigerian artist of all time on Spotify, garnering over 3.4 billion streams across the songs on his discography.
Through out his career, wizkid is estimated to have made $30million
How many Kids does Wizkid have?
He is a father of three;
- Boluwatife Balogun mothered by Oluwanisola Ogudugu
- Ayodeji Balogun mothered by Binta Diallo
- Zion Balogun mothered by Jada Pollock
He is an ambassador of Pepsi, signing his first deal with the multinational in 2012. He has also had brand partnership deals with companies like MTN Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria Plc, and the United Bank Of Africa (UBA).
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