…With His Star-Studded Album ‘Made In Lagos’
A potent mix of Afrobeats and R&B, Wizkid’s 2020 album ‘Made in Lagos’ further accelerated the already-unstoppable surge of Nigerian music throughout the world
What binds artists as diverse as H.E.R., Burna Boy, Skepta, Ella Mai, Tay Iwar, Projexx, Tems, Damian Marley, and Terri? They all appeared on the breakout album by Wizkid, Made in Lagos.
In years past, it perhaps would have been unlikely for a Nigerian act to be the gravitational center for cross-genre luminaries — from reggae, from R&B, from grime. But these are the 2020s, and Afrobeats is colossal right now. And Wizkid is at the vanguard of this deluge of creative expression.
Outside of the music itself, the best part of the Afrobeats explosion is that it virtually never waters down its roots — it exists to elevate the continent that birthed it, and its community of forward-thinking music makers. That’s what Wizkid highlighted while promoting his radiant fourth album, 2020’s Made in Lagos.
“I’m unapologetically Nigerian, I’m unapologetically Lagosian,” he told Vogue. “And when I say I’m here for my people, I mean it.”
Thus, Wizkid encapsulated the essence of Made in Lagos, which shook the pop music firmament with tracks like “Smile” and “No Stress.” His “Essence” received the royal treatment via a remix with Justin Bieber, and basically took over 2021 summer playlists. But the whole album overflows with pop riches. Featuring the most sumptuous elements of Afrobeats, R&B and Caribbean influences braided into one, Made in Lagos further established Wizkid as a global pop dynamo and helped hasten the rise of Afrobeats worldwide.
The album’s ripple effect was keenly felt: At the 2022 GRAMMY Awards, which air Sunday, April 3, Wizkid is nominated in two categories: the newly debuted Best Global Music Performance (“Essence”) and Best Global Music Album (Made in Lagos: Deluxe Edition). Several of his fellow nominees in those categories — Angélique Kidjo, Femi Kuti, Burna Boy — are African, which isn’t lost on Wizkid.
“I’m African. I ride for that. And I live there. I grew up there. That’s me,” he told Rolling Stonein 2021 in a GRAMMY Preview interview. “If the world can pay attention to one artist from Africa, why can’t they pay attention to all? That’s the mentality I’ve got.”
**After releasing his first two albums, 2011’s Superstar and 2014’s Ayo, on Nigerian label Ayo Mates (the latter was a co-release with his own label imprint, Starboy Entertainment), Wizkid made his stateside debut with 2017’s Sounds from the Other Side. Despite sizable firepower and appearances from artists like Drake, Major Lazer and Ty Dolla $ign, it wasn’t quite the commercial breakthrough it was designed to be. Undeterred, Wizkid decided to make another big swing — inspired by the city that made and shaped him.**
Granted, Wizkid had rhapsodized about Nigeria in song before. “Ojuelegba,” a percolating, Yoruba-sung track from Ayo, was named after a Lagos neighborhood and explored Wizkid’s experiences and growth against its backdrop. And his public gestures in solidarity with Nigeria go beyond music: Wizkid has joined the throng of young Nigerians in the #EndSARS protest against police brutality, even delaying new music in solidarity with the cause.
But it all comes back to Wizkid’s artistry. And with such a rich vein of feeling and expression to mine, why not blow up the concept of hometown pride into an entire album?
From the opening moments of Made in Lagos, it’s clear that Wizkid has consolidated his approach, honing his artistry to appeal across oceans and cultures. His lightly Auto-Tuned cadence on “Reckless” is intoxicating, gliding over a shifting rhythm and flecked with saxophone. “Got so many blessings, I dey count all night/ Yeah, starboy make a move, no man take my shine,” he sings, seeming grateful for the gift of life.
On “Ginger,” Wizkid teams up with Burna Boy, another member of Afrobeats aristocracy, to promise an all-night function, so you don’t have to rush: “Say my party no dey stop til the daylight/ Before you run go dey shayo/ Make you think twice/ If na smoke you wan smoke say we dey tight.” Other highlights include the acoustic-guitar-inflected “Piece of Me” — featuring English singer/songwriter Ella Mai — and the luxurious, hip-shaking “True Love,” a platform for Nigerian performer Tay Iwar and Jamaican artist Projexx.
But the centerpiece is inarguably the steamy love ballad “Essence,” featuring a commanding performance from rising Nigerian singer Tems. The song made big waves on its own, but the Bieber-assisted remix rocketed it to global recognition — even making history as the first-ever Nigerian song to hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 9. Rolling Stone named “Essence” the best song of 2021, saying it “offered the best vision possible of our eternally shrinking world: at once local and global, intimate and universal.”
As a whole, Made in Lagos was a spectacular success — not only did numerous American outlets deem it one of the best albums of 2021, but it debuted on the Spotify Global Album Chart and went on to shatter African streaming records. The Afrobeats scene continues to grow by the day — giants and emerging stars like Olamide, Davido and Joeboy are roaming the landscape. But really, Afrobeats isn’t a competition, or a popularity contest — it’s a common purpose.
With Made in Lagos, Wizkid didn’t merely ask for a spotlight on him — because of its titanic success, the light shines ever brighter on the place that made him. These days, the tectonic plates of pop music have shifted to elevate Nigeria, rendering the country visible from all directions. Because of this conspicuousness, the global music community can band together to celebrate this national fount of musical brilliance. For that, we can all thank Wizkid.
-Livegrammy
