Read more.
The summer of 2015 was unusually full of collaborations between African stars and big-name U.S. rappers—the Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie teamed up with Ace Hood, and the Nigerian Afro-pop singer Davido with Meek Mill—but
no song has been as wide-reaching as “Ojuelegba.” Even before Drake
came near it, six months after its initial release it was simmering
toward anthem status across Africa. The original is arguably even better
than the remix, which omits the Dr. Dre “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” sample—just one highlight of the production by Wizkid’s longtime collaborators Legendury Beatz. “I knew it was a good song,” Wizkid says, “but I didn’t expect it to blow up the way that it did.”
“Ojuelegba” is named after the heaving suburb that connects Lagos’ mainland with the Victoria and Lagos Islands. Fela Kuti’s seminal “Confusion Break Bones” referenced its ungovernable chaos as a way to call out Nigeria’s leadership. That was in 1990, the same year Ayodeji “Wizkid” Balogun was born. “My parents still live there. We have a house there,” he explains. “Ojuelegba,” sung in a voice that sounds like it hasn’t fully grown up, recounts his attempts to break into music as a teen, as he navigated the city among traders, tailors, sex workers, commuters, and area boys. The joyful feeling when he sings on the hook, I can’t explain…, is so infectious that he doesn’t need to.
“Ojuelegba” is named after the heaving suburb that connects Lagos’ mainland with the Victoria and Lagos Islands. Fela Kuti’s seminal “Confusion Break Bones” referenced its ungovernable chaos as a way to call out Nigeria’s leadership. That was in 1990, the same year Ayodeji “Wizkid” Balogun was born. “My parents still live there. We have a house there,” he explains. “Ojuelegba,” sung in a voice that sounds like it hasn’t fully grown up, recounts his attempts to break into music as a teen, as he navigated the city among traders, tailors, sex workers, commuters, and area boys. The joyful feeling when he sings on the hook, I can’t explain…, is so infectious that he doesn’t need to.
Wizkid’s biggest hit is far more personal, but also poppier, than the preceding singles from his sophomore LP, Ayo. “Show Me the Money” and the Femi Kuti-featuring “Jaiye Jaiye”
lean more toward the South African style of afro house, a bass and
drum-heavy sound that Wizkid favors. “I like the way house music is
produced,” he says. “In Africa, house music artists are the ones most
likely to cross over internationally. There are very few African artists
who can do that.”
With some crucial co-signs in the bag, Wizkid has also recently inked a management deal with Disturbing London (Tinie Tempah, Jessie J) and headed into the studio with Norwegian hitmakers Stargate and Coldplay’s Chris Martin to write and record a hook intended for Rihanna, though he can’t confirm whether it will make her next album. He’s not short of star power for his forthcoming EP, Sounds From the Other Side, either. A bromance between him and Chris Brown dates back to 2013 when, whilst on tour in Ghana, Breezy brought Wizkid on stage with him. “African Bad Girl,” a song they recorded together last year in Los Angeles, will finally see the light of day. Tinie Tempah will be featured on another song, as will the legendary Beninese singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo, one of only a handful of artists from Africa to have won a Grammy.
For now, Wizkid is on the road, fulfilling tour dates in Europe and the U.S., including a performance at Alicia Keys’ annual fundraiser for Keep a Child Alive, her foundation fighting AIDS throughout Africa and the developing world. With a major U.K. record label deal in the works, according to his management, Wizkid is squeezing in edits to Sounds From the Other Side where he can. “I’m a perfectionist,” he declares, “I can listen to the music now and tomorrow I’ll be like, ‘Yo, I feel we need to change this’, and then we have to go back to the drawing board.” Everyone else, it seems, is ready.
With some crucial co-signs in the bag, Wizkid has also recently inked a management deal with Disturbing London (Tinie Tempah, Jessie J) and headed into the studio with Norwegian hitmakers Stargate and Coldplay’s Chris Martin to write and record a hook intended for Rihanna, though he can’t confirm whether it will make her next album. He’s not short of star power for his forthcoming EP, Sounds From the Other Side, either. A bromance between him and Chris Brown dates back to 2013 when, whilst on tour in Ghana, Breezy brought Wizkid on stage with him. “African Bad Girl,” a song they recorded together last year in Los Angeles, will finally see the light of day. Tinie Tempah will be featured on another song, as will the legendary Beninese singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo, one of only a handful of artists from Africa to have won a Grammy.
For now, Wizkid is on the road, fulfilling tour dates in Europe and the U.S., including a performance at Alicia Keys’ annual fundraiser for Keep a Child Alive, her foundation fighting AIDS throughout Africa and the developing world. With a major U.K. record label deal in the works, according to his management, Wizkid is squeezing in edits to Sounds From the Other Side where he can. “I’m a perfectionist,” he declares, “I can listen to the music now and tomorrow I’ll be like, ‘Yo, I feel we need to change this’, and then we have to go back to the drawing board.” Everyone else, it seems, is ready.
