βIf you want make he ginger, give am grammy awardββ¦ lol
Itβs amazing how Wizkid βs sound metamorphose from the conventional Afrobeats to his sultrier, silky sound we canβt seem to get enough of. Wizkid is one Nigerian Artist that has effortlessly established himself globally and locally. I mean, how many Nigerian Afrobeats artists have received a quarter of the massive international recognition our very own Starboy is enjoying.
Wizkid as an artist canβt be boxed in one genre of music, this guy flows fluidly from Afrobeats to Reggae, hip-hop, dance hall, and even rap. We have seen Newbies in the music industry stylishly try to tap into Wizkidβs unique sound and style, we canβt say they have succeeded as Wizkidβs sound is still distinct. Letβs roll to theΒ Grammy Awardsβ¦.
Nigerians home and abroad were anticipatingΒ Burna BoyΒ and Wizkidβs Grammy awards after they were nominated in different categories. When the news of Burnaβs victory was announced, Twitter street was literally on fire. But before Burnaβs news hit the Internet, Starboy has already started shinning on social media. News and tweets were flying from different angles that Starboy won a Grammy award for his feature on Beyonceβs Brown Skin Girl Music video.
Hate to burst your bubble, but Wizkid didnβt win a Grammy Award and as such he canβt be addressed as a βGrammy Award Winning Artisteβ yet. Therefore Keypad warriors/Reporters should refute claims that he is the first artiste out of Nigeria to win a Grammy Award. Calm down, Calm down. He only received Grammy recognition for his feature on Beyonceβs Brown skin girl which won the award forΒ Best Music VideoΒ of the year. According to Grammy Rules, the golden gramophone belongs to the main Artist and the creatives of the video. Letβs break this down. If Beyonceβs TheΒ Lion King AlbumΒ had won theΒ ALBUM OF THE YEAR,Β Wizkid would have gotten his own golden gramophone, not a grammy certificate as he received. Grammy rules also state βFeatured artistsΒ areΒ GRAMMY-eligible in Album Of The Year if they perform on more than 33% of the playing time of an album; they are eligible in the genre album categories if they perform on more than 51% of playing time; and are eligible in performance categories if they are credited as aΒ featured artistΒ on the trackβ.
Surprisingly, this is Wizkidβs second attempt at winning his own Golden Gramophone. In 2017, Drakeβs theΒ Views AlbumΒ got nominated for theΒ Album of the YearΒ and theΒ Best Rap AlbumΒ at the 58th Grammy Awards. Wizkid alongsideΒ KylaΒ featured on Drakeβs hit song One Dance, Wizkid co-wrote and co-produced the song. So imagine if the album had actually won at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2017, Wizkid would have been a Grammy Award winner long before Burna Boy.
Wizkid isnβt the only Nigerian artiste who was close to winning a Grammy Award. In 1984-1999Β King Sunny AdeΒ was nominated for a Grammy award. From 2003-2014,Β Femi KutiΒ also received nominations for some of his albums likeΒ Fight To Win, Africa for Africa, Day by Day. In 2018,Β Seun KutiΒ was nominated for theΒ Black Times album. In 2021,Β Tiwa Savage, Femi Kuti,Β andΒ Made KutiΒ were close to winning Grammy recognition for their Contribution to COLDPLAYβS Album, but it was misinformation on the part of the Recording Academy as Taylor SwiftβsΒ FOLKLORE ALBUMΒ won the Album of the year.
He might not have won a Grammy Award, but he has bagged numerous awards over the years. He won aΒ Soul Train awardΒ for his feature on Beyonceβs Brown skin girl, alongside Blue ivy and Saint JHN. He won threeΒ Billboard Music AwardsΒ for his Collaboration in DrakeβsΒ βOne Danceβ.Β Wizkid is the first Nigerian (if not African) to bag an international award fromΒ The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)Β for his role in writing βOne Danceβ. Wizkid is the first Afro-pop artiste to appear in theΒ Guinness Book of World Records.Β This is related to his songwriting credits for the βOne Danceβ which has the Guinness World Record as the most played song on Spotify with over 1 billion streams. He is also the first African to sell out Londonβs most iconic venue,Β Royal Albert Hall in less than 72 hours.Β Wizkid won the 2020 Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO) for theΒ Best African Act.Β That was Wizkidβs fourth MOBO win. He has won the MOBO βBest African Actβ and βBest International ActβΒ Award at different times.
All these are βsomeβ of his international awards, if we dig up his local/Nigerian wins, you will literally customize a Grammy award for Wizkid. If thereβs one artiste we are certain can lure the Judges at the Recording Academy with his talents for a grammy award, we are positive it will be Wizkid. Not dwelling on his unique sultry voice, Wizkid has proven to music fans that he is eligible to be a receiver at the next Grammy awards.Β He effortlessly basks in Felaβs and Sunday Ade sound quite similar to the sound Burna Boy Tapped into for his Grammy Award-winning albumΒ βTwice as Tallβ.Β His soft and soothing AlbumΒ βMade In LagosβΒ might not win in the Best Global Music album category, that is okay. We wonβt mind so long as the Grammy gives it theΒ Album of the yearΒ award. Lol
To cut the long story short, Wizkid canβt be addressed as a Grammy Award Winning artiste for now because he doesnβt have a customized Grammy Plaque like Burna Boy. Based on Grammys, we still need to push our Starboy farther and hope his new impressive project,Β βMade In LagosβΒ or other forthcoming projects brings home an actual Grammy Plaque.