Wizkid, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, was born on 16 July 1990, in Surulere, Lagos. He began recording music at the age of 11 and released a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. In 2009, Wizkid signed a record deal with Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). He gained recognition after releasing “Holla at Your Boy“, the lead single from his debut studio album, Superstar (2011).
In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the hit single “One Dance“, which reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in 14 additional countries. Wiz Kid was featured on Beyoncé‘s project The Lion King: The Gift on the single “Brown Skin Girl” (2019), which also reached number-one on the World Digital Song Sales chart, and won him a Grammy Award for Best Music Video.
In October 2020, he released his fourth album, Made in Lagos, which received commercial success and acclaim, reaching number-one on the Billboard World Album Chart. The album includes the single “Essence” featuring Tems, which became the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top ten following a remix released by Justin Bieber.
