Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990),
[3] better known by his stage name
Wizkid (sometimes stylised as
WizKid), is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He started recording music at age 11 and managed to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. In 2009, he signed a record deal with
Banky W.'s record label
Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). He rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song "
Holla at Your Boy" from his debut studio album,
Superstar (2011). "
Tease Me/Bad Guys", "
Don't Dull", "Love My Baby", "Pakurumo" and "Oluwa Lo Ni" were also released as singles from the
Superstar album. Wizkid's self-titled second studio album,
Ayo, was released in September 2014 and was preceded by six singles: "
Jaiye Jaiye", "On Top Your Matter", "One Question", "Joy", "Bombay" and "Show You the Money". In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the global hit, "
One Dance", which reached number one in 15 countries, including the
United States,
United Kingdom,
Canada and
Australia. In addition to his solo work, Wizkid has collaborated with several other artists and was featured on the hits "Girl" (with
Bracket), "Fine Lady" (with
Lynxxx), "
Sexy Mama" (with
Iyanya), "Slow Down" (with
R2Bees), "The Matter" (with
Maleek Berry), "Pull Over" (with
KCee) and "Bad Girl" (with
Jesse Jagz).
Following the release of his second studio album and expiration of his 5-year recording contract, Wizkid left E.M.E. On 1 March 2017,
Billboard magazine reported that Wizkid signed a multi-album deal with
RCA Records.
[4] The deal was first reported by several media outlets in September 2016.
[5] The chairman and CEO of RCA Records,
Peter Edge, somewhat confirmed the signing while speaking to Music Business Worldwide in January 2017.
[6] He was ranked 5th on
Forbes and
Channel O's 2013 list of the Top 10 Richest/Bankable African Artists.
[7][8] In February 2014, Wizkid became the first ever Nigerian musician to have over 1 million followers on Twitter.
[9][10]