Popular Afro-beat singer, Ayodeji Balogun otherwise known as Wizkid, turns 30 today (Thursday, July 16, 2020).
Over the last 10 years, Wizkid has enjoyed a steady and consistent career growth, hence becoming the yardstick for performing artistes in Nigeria, and Africa at large.
Arguably, Wizkid is one of the most decorated, successful, and bankable Afro-pop singers on the continent. It is in this light that eelive.ng presents his greatest achievements since he debuted his musical career.
Guinness World Records
Wizkid is the first Afro-pop artiste to appear in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was able to achieve this after featuring on Drake’s smash hit, One Dance, as a guest vocal. The song topped several charts across the globe.
Although the song is technically Drake‘s single; Wizkid has the songwriting credits for One Dance, which has the Guinness World Record as the most played song on Spotify with over 1 billion streams.
Billboard Music Awards
For his contribution to One Dance, Wizkid became the first Nigerian to win three Billboard Music Awards. He however featured on the song alongside Kyla, is a Filipino R&B singer-songwriter.
Royal Albert Hall’s show In London
Wizkid is the first African to not only perform, but also sell out London’s most iconic venue, Royal Albert Hall as a headliner, joining musicians like Beatles, Adele, Elton.
He sold out the venue in less than 72 hours and eventually had a stellar performance.
BET
Following his latest win at the recently-concluded BET Awards, Wizkid became the most awarded African artiste in the history of BET. He won the Best International Act category of the award in 2012 and 2017. And in 2020, he claimed the BET Her Award for his contribution to Brown Skin Girl, a song on Beyonce’s The Lion King: The Gift album, in which he was featured on.
ASCAP
Wizkid is the first Nigerian to bag an international award from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). The award was given to Wizkid in recognition of his role in the writing of Drake’s chart-topping hit single, One Dance.
Dolce & Gabbana
With his hit single, Soco, playing in the background, Wizkid is the first African artiste to walk the runway at a Dolce and Gabbana fashion show.
By long or short, as stated by Motolani Alake, a music critic, Wizkid is the greatest artiste of his generation.
Happy 30th birthday to the Starboy.
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