Before rising to the stardom you see him enjoying today, talented Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter Wizkid who was born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun started somewhere.
As it is often said “don’t despise the days of little beginnings” the big Wizkid you are seeing today started little and I believe he will never forget those days of his little beginnings.
Born on 16 July 1990, Wizkid hails from Ojuelegba which is a suburb in the Surelere area of Lagos State, he is the last child and only son in a family of 9 females.
Considering the fact that there are so many talented musicians in this country whose musical career cannot see the light of day because no one has given them the best platform to themselves, Wizkid career wouldn’t have been successful without those who played a key role of giving him an opportunity to showcase his musical talent.
In this post therefore, we are going to look at those who influenced Wizkid to become the biggest start out of Africa today, starting from the the person that first signed him into music.
Who signed Wizkid into music?
Wizkid was signed into music by Banky W who happens to be the CEO of Empire Mates Entertainment, EME, one of the fore front record labels in Nigeria that are always on the lookout of new artists to sign.
His record contract with Empire Mates began in 2010 where he released his hit single titled “Holla At Your Boy”. Following the success of this hit single, Wizkid would move on to release his debut solo album titled “Superstar” the following year, precisely 2011.
Before signing with Empire Mates to become a global start, Wizkid began his musical career at age eleven under the stage name Lil Prinz, and he was also a member of is church choir where they formed a musical group known as the Glorious 5ive.
While with the Glorious 5ive, Wizkid dropped an album which sold just 10,000 copies among his church members.
Due to his experience in music with Glorious 5ive, Wizkid came under the musical influence of one of the big music producers at that time, OJB Jezreel where he is believed to have recorded couple of songs.
Being under OJB gave Wizkid the opportunity to mingle with successful artists at that time in persons of 2face Idibia, Sound Sultan, Naeto C, M.I Abaga etc.
In 2009, Wizkid had a little glimpse of the musical spotlight after a song he featured on M.I Abaga’s hit single “Fast Cars”.
I believe this is when record label executive Banky W, discovered Wizkid and signed him into his record label known as Empire Mates Entertainment.
Overviewing Wizkid’s musical career will help you to understand that to be successful as an upcoming artists in Nigeria, you need the influence of other artists who are already living that success you are craving for.
So you must try as much as possible to network and collaborate with A-List artists, no matter how expensive it would seem, if you want to increase your chances of becoming successful in the Nigerian music industry.
