Wizkid Biography, Real Name, Age, Career and Net Worth

admin | May 1, 2020 | Find It | 11 Comments

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly known as Wizkid is an award winning Nigerian singer and song writer. Wizkid was born on 16th July 1990 in Surulere, Lagos. He is the only son out of thirteen siblings in a polygamous interfaith family. His mother is a Christian while his father a Muslim.

Wizkid Profile

Name	Wizkid
Real Name	Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun
Date of Birth	16th July 1990
Age	30 years (2020)
State of Origin	Lagos State
Tribe	Yoruba
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter, Producer
Record label	Star Boy Records
Net Worth	$14 million

Educational Background

Wizkid attended Ijebu Ode Grammar School where he obtained his West African School Certificates. He proceeded to Lagos State University (LASU). He later attended Lead City University, but dropped out after completing two sessions.

Musics and Career

At an early age of 11, Wizkid started recording music and managed to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. He was called Lil Prinz till 2006.

In 2006, Wizkid started collaborating with various Nigerian pop artists including OJB Jezreel, Naeto C, and Banky W.

In 2009, he signed a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). Then he began recording his debut studio album Superstar in 2009. He released “Holla at Your Boy” as the album’s lead single on 2 January 2010, a song which brought him to limelight.

On 2 April 2010, Wizkid released “Tease Me/Bad Guys” as the album’s second single. “Don’t Dull”, the album’s third single, was released on 6 December 2010. While working on Superstar, Wizkid collaborated with record producers such as E-Kelly, Jay Sleek, Shizzi, DJ Klem, Masterkraft, Q-Beats and Samklef.

The album features guest appearances from Banky W., Skales, D’Prince and Wande Coal. Superstar won Best Album of the Year at the 2012 Nigeria Entertainment Awards, and was nominated for Album of the Year at The Headies 2012.

Wizkid toured London in 2012 and performed at the HMV Apollo on 4 June 2012. He worked with Banky W., Skales, Shaydee and Niyola to record E.M.E’s compilation album Empire Mates State of Mind in 2012. Following the album’s release, E.M.E acts toured the United States. The tour kicked off in July and ended in September 2012.

EME acts performed in several different cities, including Houston, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Providence, Calgary, Atlanta, Washington DC and Chicago. On 12 November 2012, Wizkid performed at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Live 02 Academy in Brixton alongside Trey Songz, Tulisa, Kendrick Lamar and Angel.

Wizkid established his label imprint Starboy Entertainment in March 2013. Wizkid also recorded his second studio album Ayo between 2012 and 2014.

It features guest appearances from Femi Kuti, Banky W., Seyi Shay, Phyno, Tyga, Akon and Wale. The album’s production was handled by Sarz, Shizzi, Uhuru, Del B, Dokta Frabz, Maleek Berry, Legendury Beatz and Spellz. On 5th of January 2015, Wizkid released the music video for “Ojuelegba”, a song that highlights the struggles he endured in the early years of his recording career. The song’s official remix features vocals from Drake and Skepta; it premiered on OVO Sound Radio in July 2015.

In 2016, Wizkid became Nigeria’s first artist to emerge on Billboard’s Twitter Last 24 hours chart following his guest feature on Drake’s afrobeat-infused One Dance single, which appeared at number 21. By May, the song had reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it maintained for 10 non-consecutive weeks.

In addition, Wizkid has collaborated with several other artists and was featured on the hits “Brown Skin Girl” (with Beyonce), “Energy (Stay Far Away)” (with Skepta), “Sexy Mama” (with Iyanya), “Slow Down” (with R2Bees), “The Matter” with Maleek Berry, “Pull Over” (with KCee) and “Bad Girl” (with Jesse Jagz), and “Checklist” (with Normani and Calvin Harris). Also, he became the first Afrobeats artist to appear in the 2018 Guinness World Records for his contribution to “One Dance”.

Wizkid released his third studio album, Sounds from the Other Side on 14 July 2017. Primarily a Caribbean-influenced record, SFTOS encompasses several other genres, including Afrobeats, EDM, R&B, and house. The album features guest appearances from Drake, Major Lazer, Chris Brown, Ty Dolla Sign, Efya, Bucie and Trey Songz. Its production was handled by Sarz, Del B, Spellz, Dre Skull, DJ Mustard, Major Lazer, and the Picard Brothers

So far, he has garnered two City People Entertainment Awards, two BET Awards, two Channel O Music Video Awards, two Ghana Music Awards, three MOBO Awards, six The Headies Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, six Nigeria Entertainment Awards, four MTV Africa Music Awards, a Future Award, two iHeartRadio Music Awards, two SoundCity MVP Awards, two Dynamix All Youth Awards, and one MTV Europe Music Award.

Made in Lagos Album

In November 2020, Wizkid released his “Made in Lagos” album. The Album featured popular Nigerian musicians like Burna Boy, Tems, Terri and many others.

The Made in Lagos tracks are