After his 2020 album ‘Made In Lagos’ was certified Gold in the United States, African megastar Wizkid has gained another colourful feather to his embellished hat. The Recording Industry Association of America announced the Gold Certification of Wizkid’s ‘Made In Lagos’ album on Monday, August 29th, 2022, after it sold over 500,000 copies in the United States.
Wizkid now holds the unique distinction of being the only Nigerian and African musician to have his record sell more than 500,000 copies in the United States. As predicted, friends, admirers, colleagues, and media figures have lavished praise on Mr Ayo “Wizkid” Balogun for placing Nigeria and Africa on the map while setting the standard pace for other artists.
The role of ‘Essence’: It is easily deduced that the American popularity of ‘Made In Lagos’ is driven by the enormously successful ‘Essence,’ which had success in the United States. The ‘Essence’ remix, which features American pop artist Justin Bieber, reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified two times platinum.
With the certification of ‘Made In Lagos,’ Nigerian fans will be hopeful that additional albums will follow in its footsteps and achieve worldwide success as Afrobeats continues to flourish.
More on Wizkid
Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, best known by his stage name Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and composer. He was born on July 16, 1990. He began recording music when he was 11 years old and published a joint album with the Glorious Five (5), a group he and a handful of his church members formed.
Wizkid secured a record deal with Banky W’s Empire Mates Entertainment in 2009. (E.M.E). Later, he rose to prominence with the release of “Holla at Your Boy,” the first single off his debut studio album, Superstar (2011), which also yielded the hits “Tease Me/Bad Guys” and “Don’t Dull.”
He contributed to the 2018 single “Checklist” by Normani and Calvin Harris, which climbed at the top of the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. The following year, he appeared on Beyoncé’s album The Lion King: The Gift on the track “Brown Skin Girl,” which also charted at number one on the World Digital Song Sales list and that earned him a Grammy Award for the Best Music Video.
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In October 2020, he released his fourth album, Made in Lagos, a financial and critical triumph, peaking at number one on the Billboard World Album Chart. The album features the track “Essence,” featuring Tems, which became the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top ten after a remix by Justin Bieber was published. Wizkid’s fifth studio album, More Love Less Ego, will be released in 2022. Wizkid was the most-streamed Nigerian artist on Spotify by February 2021, with over 3.4 billion streams across all credits.
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