Wizkid becomes africans foremost music ambassador

Wizkid is a good place at the moment. The
rapper has had a phenomenal year where he
is working on his next project, touring the
world for performances and engagements,
collaborating with international stars, and
perhaps the biggest so far, having his vocals
on Drake’s ‘One Dance’ single, off his
“Views ” album.
The singer has also had his name mentioned
in international publications, his music
played on mainstream US radio, his shows
booked to capacity at capacity stadiums in
Africa, performed in Amsterdam at a Chris
Brown tour, Essence Music Festival and a lot
of choice venues.
The singer is also gearing up for the release
of a body of work. On this issue, there are
divided reports. Some camps bear
information that the planned body of work is
an album, others are championing an EP.
Regardless, a body of work is sure this year.
He has also extended his Starboy
Entertainment, dipping his hands into sister
country Ghana, and snapping up E fya, Mr
Eazi, and R2bees .
With his exploits so far, there has been a
concerted global campaign towards African
pop music. Davido has a deal with Sony, Ayo
Jay just got signed to RCA, Tiwa Savage is
about to ink an international management
deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation. There are still
rumours of more in the making, with the
continent being opened up and labels
marking up their territories as experts
forecast an arms race to grab the best acts
with crossover potential.
A lot of these have had Wizkid at the front of
it all, working hard, recording his life away,
and the resultant spotlight filtering past him
and becoming something bigger for the
continent. Right now Wizkid is Africa’s
number one. That position has been occupied
in the past by a long list of talented stars
from the country. 2face Idibia has had his
legendary run, D’banj once was seen as the
messiah, and although he is contested
fiercely at home by Davido, he still stays top
of the lot.
With more light on Wizkid, there’s a general
feeling that he is Nigeria’s pop music
ambassador, representing us in foreign
waters and spreading our gospel. The kids
here look up to him, and that followership
has increased, most partly because he has
raised the ceiling of achievement for our
industry. His name is on the Billboard Hot
100 Charts, where it is hugging the top
position.
Previously, collaborations between African
artistes and their US counterparts have been
at the will and cost of the Africans, with
Davido recently paying top dollar to get Meek
Mill, and Sarkodie having his record with
Acehood leaving a $25,000 hole in his
pockets. This has been turned around by
Wizkid, with the potential for us to be the
sole benefactors of such an enterprise now
being explored.
As his work continues, Wizkid has become
Nigeria’s ambassador for music affairs,
spreading our word far into the world. Sure
there are many names that shine the light on
the Nigerian continent right now. But Wizkid
leads them all.