We finally know the story of the boy from Ojuelegba, who had nothing but an empty pocket and a bag of dreams. He thrived despite the odds not being in his favour in this hunger games themed clime where there are a million ways to kick the bucket, in fact, the squid game had fairer chances.
The world celebrates him, we venerate and idolize Wizkid in Nigeria and across Africa. But we seem to forget that he did not have a smooth sail to fame and fortune, with so many achievements in the bag ranging from a Guinness world record, numerous hits, sold-out shows, concerts and tours, working with global artists, music insiders even disclose that he is the go-to guy if one seeks a global hit from the shores of Africa to the world.
A plethora of awards and recognitions including a Grammy, faces of multiple magazines you can only but dream to have, can you imagine he is being called the ‘King of Afropop’ on GQ and most recently he has become the first Nigerian artist to have his song crack the top 10 billboard hot 100 chart, all thanks to ‘Essence’ and the assist from Tems and Justin Bieber.
Many enthusiasts, fans and critics speculate who will break all these records that Wizkid has set. Some wonder if Wizkid is the greatest Nigerian artist alive.
It is therefore pertinent to explicate the history and the greatness of the 2010 Nigerian music generation, as Wizkid is a product of that generation as we go further in this article.
As I have stated in previous articles, music aficionados tag 2010 as the golden year of Nigerian Hip-Hop and as fate would have it, this coincided with the popularity of Nigerian pop music that Wande Coal pre-debuted with his contemporary pop defining ‘Mushin To Mo’Hits’ 2009 album and popularized by Wizkid with his teen pop swagger ‘Superstar’ album which is now a template for creating top tier pop albums.
It is quite a shame that the greatness of Wizkid’s generation is largely underrated and not appreciated by fans and critics alike. There is a need to elucidate the importance of music generation and the propensities for glory they could have over the industry.
According to Pulse.ng music editor, Motolani Alake, a generation in music is simply a set of artists who launched their careers around the same time or in close proximity of each other. A great example is the 2010 music generation which had Wizkid, Ice Prince, Davido, Burna Boy, Olamide, Phyno, Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade and a host of others.
2010 brought life, style, sonic finesse, competition and grace to the Nigerian music industry and beyond. It is no surprise that they are the ones now leading the charge for Afrobeats on a global scale and they don’t seem to be hanging their boots anytime soon.
It is in this light, I pose this question, is Wizkid the greatest artist of his generation. For a holistic response, we have to consider the following factors to give an unbiased answer and address the elephant in the room.
-Impact over time: Wizkid’s impact has been felt by all generations particularly Gen Z’s who see him as an icon living. He made music for the younger generations back then in the 2010s and took the music to the Nigerian diaspora, who went berserk over the new kid on the block redefining Nigerian contemporary pop sound. For more than a decade his impact has only grown from strength to strength.
-Consistency: One thing that all artists and creatives dread most is becoming obsolete in the industry and fading into the darkness. Wizkid has remained consistent in the industry ever since his first major joint in 2008 with MI on ‘Fast Money Fast Cars’ song. The sky became his starting point and the earth his canvas for innovation and excellence beyond all measures. It is imperative to know that Wizkid officially started his career in 2001.
-Influence over the industry: Wizkid’s influence is not just limited to the music industry, it spreads across all boards. Be it fashion, film, art, lifestyle, media and pop culture. Many critics acclaim him to be the first teen pop star in Nigeria that made music for the younger generations. By then many young people especially boys wanted to be like him, all thanks to his teen pop classic ‘Holla At Your Boy’ and contemporary pop defining album ‘Superstar’ which propelled him and the Nigerian pop sound to glory. Since then, he has dropped three other albums, the most recent ‘Made in Lagos’ is doing wonders on the billboard world albums chart and it has amassed over 300 million streams on Audiomack, making him the first African artist to achieve such a feat for an album. Some music aficionados state that it would be a classic in times to come. Even superstar act Davido once said that Wizkid made him go into music, as he was the one who demonstrated that young boys could make money from music.
Big Wiz has earned all his keeps in the entertainment industry and he seeks to lay a foundation for others to build on. In an interview with Arise TV during Nigeria’s diamond jubilee commemoration last year, he said “I would love for the young youths and the young people in Nigeria to see that nothing is impossible. You can really take it above and beyond.” He added that people like him, Davido, Burna and others are simply just scratching the surface and there is more for the next generation to achieve.