Afropop star Wizkid on ego, alter egos and elections: ‘I make a lot of club records but I feel like a pastor,
Yomi Adegoke
Wizkid: ‘My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor.’
His success has come in waves over a decade, but the Nigerian singer is closer than ever to household-name status. He talks about his upbringing, his struggles with fame – and his disillusionment with Nigerian politics
When I meet Wizkid at Metropolis recording studios in London, I am suddenly an awed 18-year-old again. The Afropop juggernaut soundtracked my university years, yet I’m struck by how youthful he appears, apparently having barely aged since I screamed myself hoarse watching him perform at London’s Hammersmith Apollo a decade ago
The only difference is that now, the 32-year-old Nigerian musician’s wrists are weighed down by Van Cleef bracelets and a diamond-encrusted watch. And his music is no longer the preserve of a smattering of fans across the diaspora. Wizkid, born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, is slouched in an office chair, zen but visibly sapped from a day of interviews, a new album release and recently welcoming a second child with his manager and partner, Jada Pollock. They met in 2012; he has four children altogether. “Now I’m more careful with what I put in my songs,” he says with a laugh. “Because my kids listen to my songs.”
To a degree. His new album, More Love, Less Ego, is a quintessentially border-crossing offering that marries melodic Afrobeats and lilting Caribbean sounds with babymaking R&B. Wizkid admits he has an unorthodox approach to music, recording every day and regularly scrapping entire albums if they don’t feel right. “That’s always my process,” he says, matter of factly. “Make one, scrap it. Make another one, scrap it. Until I find the right one.” It must be an intense exercise. “It is, man. But I have a lot to say.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/04/afropop-star-wizkid-on-ego-alter-egos-and-elections-i-make-a-lot-of-club-records-but-i-feel-like-a-pastor
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