Few artists have changed pop’s center of gravity the way Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun—Wizkid, Big Wiz, Starboy—has. From Ojuelegba in Lagos to sold-out arenas and streaming records, his story maps the rise of Afrobeats from regional phenomenon to world-building culture. In 2025, he’s still expanding the map: a new festival headline slot in Washington, D.C., a Grammy-nominated 2025 collaboration with Asake, and an album—Morayo—that folds grief and gratitude into late-night, low-lit grooves.
Origins: from church group to “Holla at Your Boy”
Wizkid grew up in Surulere, Lagos, recording as a kid with a church group (Glorious Five) before Banky W’s E.M.E signed him. His debut album Superstar (2011) codified a youthful Lagos cool—clean melodies, street-level romance, and call-and-response writing—that made “Holla at Your Boy” and “Tease Me/Bad Guys” local anthems and continental radio staples. In 2013 he founded Starboy Entertainment, the imprint that would give him creative control and a crew of producers and artists to scale his sound globally.
The crossover engine: Drake, One Dance, and a wider palette
The technical reason Wizkid cut through globally is simple: he’s an elite collaborator who understands pocket and restraint. That was obvious on Drake’s 2016 blockbuster “One Dance,” where his airy ad-libs and phrasing rode a UK-funky-meets-dancehall chassis to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, helping deliver Drake’s first solo US chart-topper; the single has since earned RIAA Diamond status. “One Dance” widened doors for Afrobeats and Afro-diasporic rhythms in mainstream pop radio, a shift you can trace straight through to today’s global playlists.
Made in Lagos and the “Essence” effect
If there’s a before/after moment in modern Afrobeats, it’s Made in Lagos (2020). The album’s mid-tempo, bass-softened, guitar-lit grooves became a template for global Afropop, and “Essence” with Tems did what no Nigerian song had done before: it entered the Billboard Hot 100 and, after the Justin Bieber remix, climbed into the Top 10. The Essence video and live TV performances compressed Lagos dusk into three minutes: minimal drums, velvet bass, and Wiz’s conversational tenor. Made in Lagos ran up world-album charts and kept a years-long touring cycle alive.
(Yes, that’s the official “Essence” video—bookmark it if you somehow missed the moment.)
Arena proof: O2 history and the 2025 festival slate
Wizkid’s live business is built on steady demand and smart pacing. In London he set a high-water mark, selling out The O2 in minutes and running three consecutive sold-out nights in 2021—an inflection point for Afrobeats in the UK’s biggest arena. This summer moves that momentum stateside: he’s billed for AFRO+ Fest at RFK Festival Grounds in Washington, D.C., on August 31, 2025, alongside an Afrobeats-first lineup—exactly the kind of diasporic flagship where his catalog plays like a greatest-hits set.
The Morayo chapter: grief, grace, and late-night R&B
Wizkid’s sixth album Morayo (Nov 22, 2024) is named for—and dedicated to—the late mother who anchored his life and career. The record pulls his Made in Lagos palette into deeper blues and reflective songwriting, with collaborations spanning Brent Faiyaz to Jazmine Sullivan and Asake. The tracklist shuffles neo-R&B gloss, Yoruba percussion touches, and conversational hooks. In 2025 he’s been working Morayo’s singles—“Piece of My Heart” with Brent Faiyaz and the club-primed “Kese (Dance)”—while letting fans sit with the album’s softer edges.
2025 in numbers: streams, charts, and the Grammy nod
By August 2025, Wizkid’s Spotify monthly listeners hover around 15.5 million—elite pop-star territory that underlines how sticky his catalog is between album cycles. And he’s still racking up hardware moments: Asake’s “MMS” featuring Wizkid was nominated at the 2025 Grammys for Best African Music Performance, keeping his name in award-season headlines while Morayo did its quiet work with fans.
Sound design: how to recognize a Wizkid record
Technically, Wizkid’s records are masterclasses in subtraction. He favors conversational toplines, clipped melodies, and drum programming that breathes—often mid-tempo, sometimes barely above 100 BPM. The bass is soft-but-insistent; guitars do as much harmonic lifting as keys; and his voice sits dry and close, like a late-night phone call. That minimalism is why he threads so easily between Afrobeats, R&B, dancehall, and even house-leaning remixes: the pocket is the point. On Morayo you hear it in the gentle push-pull of “Piece of My Heart” with Brent Faiyaz and the restraint of “Pray.” On stage, the same logic scales up—long intros, sing-backs, then a controlled lift for the drop.
Business and the Starboy model
Leaving E.M.E after his second album, Wizkid flipped control by formalizing Starboy Entertainment (2013), a label/creative hub that has housed producers (P2J, Maleek Berry, Legendury Beatz) and artists while acting as the engine behind the Starboy brand. Endorsements—from Pepsi to telecoms and beverage giants—arrived early and often, proving his commercial pull long before Afrobeats became algorithmic default in Western markets. The takeaway for younger acts has been obvious: own your IP where you can, build a trusted producer bench, and let singles live long lives.
Family, loss, and a new daughter named for his mother
Behind the headlines is a family man who has regularly said his kids and partner are the center of his life. He shares sons Boluwatife, Ayodeji Jr., and Zion, and in January 2025 welcomed his first daughter with partner/manager Jada Pollock; in June he shared her name publicly: Morayo—honoring his late mother, who passed away in August 2023. The album title and public tributes stitched these personal milestones into the music in a way fans instantly understood.
Culture carrier: why Wizkid still matters in 2025
Wizkid’s real impact sits beyond metrics. He helped normalize subtlety in Afrobeats at global scale—an aesthetics shift that empowered writers and producers to aim for intimacy rather than stadium bombast. He’s also a proof-of-concept for the modern African pop star’s career arc: local hits, regional dominance, diaspora beachheads, then true mainstream without surrendering cadence or code-switching identity. That’s why Apple Music named him Artist of the Year (Africa) in 2021 and streamed his Roundhouse concert as a global event, and it’s why O2 sellouts became a matter-of-fact headline rather than a miracle. In 2025, the AFRO+ Fest billing and Morayo run simply confirm his status as an artist people build nights—and festivals—around.
Essential discography (quick primer)
- Superstar (2011) – Debut statement; Lagos teen-pop swagger becomes continental pop.
- Ayo (2014) – The transition record; seeds of his international turn appear.
- Sounds From the Other Side (2017) – Major-label debut; Caribbean/US pop fusion era.
- Made in Lagos (2020) – The modern classic; “Essence” era.
- More Love, Less Ego (2022) – Silkier R&B reach, groundwork for Morayo.
- S2 (Soundman Vol. 2) (2023) – EP that kept the engine warm en route to the album.
- Morayo (2024) – The tribute project; grief distilled into groove.
Watch next
“Piece of My Heart” (with Brent Faiyaz) – The Morayo era’s clearest thesis in four minutes.
“MMS” (Asake feat. Wizkid) – 2025 Grammy-nominated sizzler, a street-pop/Afrobeats hinge with Wiz’s silky glide.
“Essence” (feat. Tems) – The canonical performance video that took Lagos sunsets global.
Right now: where to find the music and the man
Wizkid’s catalog is deep on Apple Music and Spotify; start with Wizkid Essentials or Afrobeats Hits if you’re new, then run Morayo front-to-back. If you want the live experience in 2025, tap the AFRO+ Fest D.C. date at month-end or keep an eye on diaspora hubs in London, Amsterdam, and Toronto where he’s historically moved fast on pop-up bookings when album cycles heat up. And if you want proof of continuing scale, the Spotify monthly listener curve—~15.5M in August 2025—speaks for itself.
