Wizkid turns 30 today and below is a compilation of interesting facts about "Starboy":
1. Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun(born 16,July 1990)is a Nigerian songwriter and singer. He was born in Surulere,Lagos.
2. His mum(Mrs balogun)is a Pentecostal Christian while his dad(Alhaji M.O Balogun)is a Muslim. He grew up with 12 female siblings.
3. He started recording music at the age of 11 with the Glorious Five(a group he and his church friends formed). Together,they released an album before disbanding. He grew up listening to King Sunny Ade,Bob Marley,Fela Kuti.
4. As a solo act,his stage name was "Lil Prinz" until 2006.
5. He attended Ijebu Ode grammar school and then Lagos State University but he dropped out. He also attended Lead University but also dropped out after completing two sessions
6. At age 15,he met OJB Jezreel a record producer. While visiting OJB's Studio,he closely watched 2Face Idibia,Sound Sultan and Naeto C record their various songs.
7. In 2009,Wizkid signed a record deal with Empire Mates Entertainment (EME),owned by fellow singer and boss Banky W.
8. In 2010,he released his lead single "Holla at Your boy",which got him two nominations for "Best pop single" and "Next Rated Award' at the Headies 2011 which he won the later. His lead single also got him a 2012 Hyundai Sonata and nomination for Most Gifted Newcomer Video at the 2011 Channel O Music Video Awards.
9. His debut album"Superstar"was released on 12,June 2011 which had hit tracks like "Holla at your Boy","Don't dull","Tease Me/Bad guys" and so many more. The album was a blend of Afrobeats,RnB,Dancehall and Reggae. It was produced by producers such as E-Kelly, Jay Sleek, Shizzi , DJ Klem, Masterkraft, Q-Beats and Samklef and featured singers such as Banky W. ,Skales,D'Prince and Wande Coal. Superstar got Best Album of the Year at the 2012 Nigeria Entertainment Awards, and was nominated for Album of the Year at The Headies 2012 .
10. "Ayo",his second studio album was recorded between 2012 and 2014. It featured Femi Kuti with whom he recorded "Jaiye Jaiye" and Banky W.,Seyi Shay,Phyno ,Tyga ,Akon and Wale.
11. in 2014,Wizkid became the first Nigerian artiste to have over 1 million followers on twitter. He also became the first Nigerian artist to be listed on Billboards Twitter Last 24 hours chart, following his guest performance on Drake's One Dance" single.
12. In 2017,he signed a multi album record deal with RCA Records and also released his 3rd Studio album"Sound from the other side",which featured artist like Drake,Chris Brown,Ty Dolla sign etc
13. In 2018,Wizkid received a Guinness World Record for his contribution to "One Dance",being the first Afro beat artist to receive such honor.
14. Wizkid has signed endorsement deals with Pepsi,Guinness, MTN and GLO which has earned him huge amount of money.
15. After his five-years contract with EME expired,Wizkid went on to create and establish his own Record label"Starboy Entertainment"which houses artist like Maleek berry,Legendary beats,Terri,Spotless,Cezza Milli etc and Mr Eazi,R2bees,Efya who are no longer part of the label .
16. Wizkid had his first son(Boluwatufe) with his then girlfriend (Shola Ogudugu) at the age of 21. He currently has 3 children from 3 different baby mamas
17. In 2012,Wizkid won BET Awards alongside Ghanaian Rapper Sarkodie.
18. Wizkid has worked with international acts such as Drake,Tyga,Ty Dolla sign,Chris Brown,Beyoncè,Rihana,Efya,Wale and national acts like Mr Eazi,Shaydee,Wande Coal,Maleek berry,Tiwa Savage,Olamide etc
19. Wizkid's genre of music are Afrobeats,Reggae,Dancehall,Hip hop and pop.
20. In 2017,Wizkid won Best International Act(Africa)award at BET Awards 17.
21. Wizkid has Super expensive cars such as Lamborghini Urus,BMW X6 Crossover,Porsche Panamera,Bentley Continental GT Speed Convertible,Porsche Cayenne,Mercedes Benz G63 AMG,2012 Mercedes-Benz Kompressor,Hyundai Sonata all in his car garage.
22. Wizkid lives in his house in lekki which is worth #68 million and is rumoured to own a home in Los Angeles, California which is worth million of dollars.
23. On 19th of October,2019,Wizkid made history as the first African artist to sell out the famous 20,000 capacity venue,O2 Arena. He performed alongside Naira Marley,Tiwa Savage,Oxlade,Fire boy etc
24. Wizkid was once allegedly paid 50 million rupees (#245.9 million) for performing at a royal wedding at one of the world's top private residence,Umaid bhawan palace in India.
26. Wizkid is one of the most followed artist in Africa with over 10M followers on Instagram and over 6M followersTwitter. Wizkid is also the first Nigerian artiste to have over 2M followers.
27. In 2018, Wizkid's Soco emerged as one of the most searched words by Google users in Nigeria.
28. Wizkid is single, although,he once tweeted that he will get married by 2020,it is unknown who is going to get married to. He has being in many romantic relationship with different women such as his baby mamas(Sola Ogudugu,Binta Diallo and Jada Pollock) to Seyi Shay,Tonto Dikeh and Tiwa Savage.
29. In 2018, Wizkid's highly anticipated Starboy-Nike"Jersey" was sold out in a record time of 10 mins.
30. Wizkid has announced July 17 as the release date for his highly anticipated album"Made In Lagos". The album is said to feature artist and producers such as Burna boy,HER,Ella Mai,Projexxx,Damian Marley,Tems,Starboy Terri,Skepta etc
Congratulations and happy 30th birthday to Starboy Wizkid.
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