Nigeria to the world: Wizkid continues global exploits

Star singer, Ayo Balogun, aka Wizkid, has continued to excel on the global stage. His latest album, Made in Lagos enjoyed rave reviews across the world, even as his fan base stretched to hitherto ‘unconquered’ territories. Sunday Scoop highlights some of the singer’s achievements in 2020

Certifications

Three of Wizkid’s songs, Borrowed Love, Soco and Can’t Believe were certified in Canada. Other songs, ‘Love’ and ‘Energy’ also earned certification in the United Kingdom; while Come Closer got certified Gold in the United States of America; and ‘Bella’ got certification in France.


Awards

Wizkid became the first Nigerian to win an NAACP Image award for the song, Brown Skin Girl, on which he was featured by Beyonce, in the category of ‘Outstanding Duo, Group/Collaboration’. He also became the most awarded African Artist in the history of the Music of Black Origin awards, having won four awards. He was adjudged the ‘Best African Act’ in the 2020 edition of the prestigious award.

He also became the most awarded Nigerian artiste at the BET Awards, having won three times. The singer was the first African artiste to be nominated at Brazil’s Breaktudo Awards in the ‘Global Artiste’ category.


Wizkid emerged as the first African artiste to debut on Spoify’s Global and Album charts #10. Continuing his winning streak, Wizkid became the first Nigerian artiste to record at least one entry on the United Kingdom’s singles chart with two different albums― Come Closer (2017) and Ginger (2020). Meanwhile, Made in Lagos is the longest charting Nigerian album on the UK albums chart for the new decade.

Special moments

The Ojuelegba singer earned his second Grammy Nomination in the ‘Best Music Video’ category for the song, Brown Skin Girl.

He also warmed the hearts of many when he ‘united’ his three sons― Boluwatife, Ayo (Junior) and Zion― in the video for his song, Smile, which featured American singer, H.E.R

Source: PUNCH