Wizkid: Taking Afrobeat To The World

A few months ago, Wizkid dropped his third studio album titled “Sounds from the other side” (SFTOS) where he featured some major international stars including the likes of Chris Brown, Drake, Ty Dolla sign and a host of other acts. The album which was released in July and contains his songs recorded within the time frame of 2014-2017 including singles like “sweet love” has the afro feel to it and is brisk and loveable. Over the space of time since its release, people have had different reactions to the album which is very much normal. More importantly is the temptation to see the features casually. I choose instead to see them as more than just international features but as a presentation of the Afrobeat sound on a worldwide scene. Truthfully, in recent times we’ve seen afro beat gain recognition worldwide, and we’ve also seen afro beats reflecting in songs internationally. A perfect example is Drake’s “one dance” a song in which he featured Wizkid. The track got Wizkid to be featured in the Guinness book of records for 2018, making him the first afro-pop artist to reach that feat. This is surely a giant leap in the Nigerian and African music culture. He was listed alongside song owner Drake, and Kayla, another featured act. The song claims the Guinness book of records for the song with the most streams on Spotify with over 1billion streams. This presentation of our sound isn’t attributed to just Wizkid but he sure is doing his part. It is safe to say that Wizkid has prominently secured himself as an international pop-cultural ambassador. Also, a few days back, Wizkid released another song with rapper Future titled “Every time”. Clearly, a continuation of his already established path of taking afrobeat to the world.   Feature Image Credit: www.ndwomfie.com.

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This article was first published on 25th September 2017

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