AYODEJI IBRAHIM BALOGUN: Complete Biography And History Of Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun A.K.A Wizkid

FULL NAME: Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun a.k.a Wizkid
DATE OF BIRTH: July 16, 1990
RELIGION: Christianity.
STATE OF ORIGIN: Ogun State.
NATIONALITY: Nigeria.
OCCUPATION: Singer, Songwriter, Performer
GENRE: Afrobeat, Dancehall, Hip-Hop
LANGUAGES: English, Yoruba, Pidgin
RECORD LABEL: Starboy
RELATIONSHIP: Dating
NET WORTH: $14 Million Dollars.

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun whose stage name is Wizkid is one of the fastest rising Nigerian music artists and probably one of the youngest too. He was recently named one of the richest African musicians by Forbes.

Wizkid was born on July 16, 1990, in Lagos, Nigeria. There has been a little controversy about his date of birth, some sources have claimed he was born on July 16, 1989.

He was born into a polygamous family – his father had three wives. His mother is a Christian and his father a Muslim. Wizkid who followed his mother to the church began singing in his local church at the tender age of 11 years. He was not only a good vocalist but also a lead singer.

Before his big break came in 2009, Wizkid released a couple of albums. As part of the church choir, he produced an album. He later went on to form a singing group with five of his church friends, the group was known as “Glorious Five”.

Before he finally settled for the stage name Wizkid, he performed using other names such as “Glorious Five”, as well as “Lil Prinz”. While using the name Lil Prinz, he was able to record an album with 7 tracks.

Wizkid attended LASU, In mid-2009, he dropped out of Lagos State University (LASU) to focus on his craft. He later attended Lead City University, but dropped out after completing two sessions.

Wizkid’s big break in the music industry came in the year 2009. This is after successfully collaborating with renowned musician M.I. The two artists produced the award-winning track “Fast Money” which not only went ahead to receive many nominations and awards but also received a lot of airplay both in Nigeria as well as in many other African countries.

Endorsements

In 2012, Wizkid signed a one-year endorsement deal with Pepsi reportedly worth 350,000 U.S dollars. He travelled to Beirut, Lebanon with Tiwa Savage for a Pepsi commercial shoot. On 28 May 2013, Premium Times reported that Wizkid signed a one-year deal with MTN Nigeria. Moreover, the news source reported that Wizkid’s Pepsi contract was renewed for another two years. On 23 October 2013, source reported that Wizkid signed an endorsement deal with Guinness for the “Guinness World of More” concert, which was held at the Eko Convention Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos on 3 November 2013. On 18 June 2015, Pulse reported that Wizkid ditched MTN and signed a ₦128 million deal with GLO.

Awards And Nominations

The African star boy is a recipient of two City People Entertainment Awards, two BET Awards, two Channel O Music Video Awards, two Ghana Music Awards, three MOBO Awards, six The Headies Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, six Nigeria Entertainment Awards, four MTV Africa Music Awards, a Future Award, two iHeartRadio Music Awards, two SoundCity MVP Awards, two Dynamix All Youth Awards, and one MTV Europe Music Award.

He has also been nominated for:

• MTV Europe Music Awards (five times)
• American Music Awards (thrice)
• World Music Awards (four times)
• Grammy Awards (once)

He was also nominated for six (6) categories of the 2017 Sound city award and he won the ‘Digital Artiste of the Year’.

DISCOGRAPHY

Studio albums

• Superstar (2011)
• Ayo (2014)
• Sounds from the Other Side (2017)
  

(Discography source: Wikipedia)

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