Here Are Remarkable Facts About Wizkid As He Turns 33

1. The grammy award winner was born to a Christian mother Mrs. Jane Dolapo and Muslim father, Alhaji Muniru Olatunji Balogun and he has twelve sisters.

2. Wizkid was exposed to the likes of King Sunny Ade, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Bob Marley from childhood.

Wizkid performing on stage with King Sunny Ade

3. He recorded his very first song as early as 11 and released an album with a kiddies church group known Glorious Five.

4. Up until the year of 2006, his stage name was Lil Prinz.

5. Wizkid was present in the studio of the late OJB Jezreel when 2Face Idibia recorded songs that were a part of the award-winning Grass 2 Grace album and also witnessed studio sessions for Sound Sultan’s very first album known as Jagbajantis.

Wizkid and legendary Producer, Late OJB

6. In 2009, Wizkid got signed to Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E) headed by Banky W and released “Holla at Your Boy” which became an instant hit leading to the success of his debut album known as Superstar which also had hits like “Tease Me/Bad Guys” and “Don’t Dull” in 2011 .

7. His second album Ayo was released in September 2014 with singles like “Jaiye Jaiye” featuring Femi Kuti on the project

8. After Wizkid's contract expired and he had left E.M.E. in 2016, his collaboration with Drake on the song titled “One Dance” helped launch his career on the international level. It topped the charts on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also in 14 countries thereby causing him to emerge as the first Afrobeats artist to be listed in the Guinness World Records.

9. Wizkid collaborated again with Drake on a track "come closer" on his third album "Sounds From The Other Side" after penning a multi-deal with RCA Records in 2017.

10. In 2018, the song “Checklist” by Normani and Calvin Harris which he featured on reached number-one on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.

11. In 2019, Beyoncé featured him on her project The Lion King: The Gift on the single “Brown Skin Girl” and also reached number-one on the World Digital Song Sales chart and earned him a Grammy Award for Best Music Video.

12. His fourth album, Made in Lagos, which received even a much louder commercial success topped the Billboard World Album Chart. The album had “Essence”, the single featuring Tems, which is the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top ten following a remix made by pop star Justin Bieber. The London concert organised to launch the album saw him sell out 20,000 tickets at the 02 arena.