Since the release of his debut single, “Holla At You Boy” in 2008, Ayo Balogun popularly called Wizkid’s career has been on meteoric rise. Once signed to Banky W’s Empire Mate Entertainment (EME), but left the label after the expiry of his contract in 20011 to form his own imprint, StarBoy Records.
Wizkid has been churning out hits upon hits and got a major international break when he featured on Drake’s “One Dance”, a song which gave him his first Billboard chart. He later featured on another major hit, Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” that fetched him a Grammy Awards honour in the Best Video of the Year category.
Last year, he dropped the single, “Essence”, off the Made In Lagos album and is now about the biggest global summer anthem. The song has been rocking the music scene internationally especially in the US where it has been charted on the prestigious Billboard Chart and also has the pop icon Justin Bieber jumping on it.
“Essence” first made its Billboard appearance courtesy of Justin Bieber’s remix and the original track featuring the rave of the moment music diva, TEMS made it to the Billboard Top 10. The original Essence or remix has topped Billboard’s world digital songs sales chart, topped Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, and reached a new peak of number 13 on the Hot 100. Essence was produced by award winning producers, Legendury Beatz. RCA released “Essence” as a single in April, accompanied by a music video filmed in Ghana that has over 18 million YouTube views.
