Born on 16 July, 1990, in Ojuelegba, a suburb in the Surulere area of Lagos State, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, who is musically known as Wizkid came into the limelight after dropping a hit single titled “Holla At Your Boy” in 2010 under the Empire Mates Entertainment imprint.
The following year, the Empire Mates record released hit debut solo album titled “Superstar”, and in February 2013, Wizkid twitted an ongoing problem with his label on His X formerly Twitter account, and also exitted the EME mansion in Lagos and bought his home in the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos State.
After Wizkid’s subliminal message, fans were throbbing the CEO of his record label, Banky W, who tried to assure everyone that nothing was amiss. Speculations had it that his problem with EME records started during the EME All Stars concert in 2012, and money was alleged to be the cause of the problem.
On April 30, 2013, a popular magazine in Nigeria announced that Wizkid had settled whatever problems he had with his record label and his contract with the label is still intact.
After his contract with EME expired in 2016, Wizkid moved on to find and launch his own record label known as Starboy Entertainment.
Following Wizkid’s success from Empire Mates to establishing his own record label, he was recognized by an international record label known as RCA Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.
In this post therefore, we are going to explore Wizkid’s record deal with RCA Records starting with ascertaining if he is still signed with the record label.
Is Wizkid still signed to RCA Records?
Yes, Wizkid is still signed to RCA Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music, and this contract was enacted since March 2017 Later that year he released his third studio album titled, “Sounds from the Other Side”. The album was supported by five singles, including the hit track “Come Closer”
RCA is an acronym for Radio Corporation of America and it is an American record label which was founded in 2008 as a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and is owned by the Sony Music Corporation.
The label is home to various artists whose genre cut across rap, hip hop, afrobeat, R&B, blues, jazz, country music, rock and roll etc.
RCA record label was fully acquired in 1987 by Bertelsmann, and was part of the Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) which became part of the Sony BMG Music Entertainment after both companies merged in 2004. And later in 2008, the company was re-acquired as after Sony/BMG was dissolved and Sony Music was restructured.
After signing with RCA Records in 2017, Wizkid released his third studio album titled: “Sounds From The Other Side” on 14 July 2017. And the album was a blend if different genres including afrobeats, R&B, EDM etc. and it had guest features from international artists like Drake, Major Lazer, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla Sign, Efya, Bucie and Trey Songz.
The album was produced by Sarz, Del B, Spellz, Dre Skull, DJ Mustard, Major Lazer, and the Picard Brothers, and was made available for online purchase and streaming on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Google Play etc.
The album’s release preceded the release of three singles titled “Daddy Yo” featuring Efya, “Sweet Love”, and “Come Closer” featuring Drake and was debuted at number 107 on the US Billboard 200. It also debuted at number 58 on the Canadian Albums Chart.
Indeed, Wizkid is one of the Nigerian artists that has paved the way for other artists from Nigeria to sign international deals as well as enjoy international collaborations.
