![\"wizkid](\"https:\/\/nigerianfinder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Wizkid-e1457644713328.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAyodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly known as Wizkid is one of the top entertainers in the country.<\/p>\n
He was ranked 5th on Forbes and Channel O’s list of the Top 10 Richest\/Bankable African Artists in 2013. A year later, he became the first ever Nigerian musician to have over 1 million followers on Twitter.<\/p>\n
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Currently, the entertainer is said to be worth an estimated $12 million.<\/p>\n
In this post, you\u2019ll get to learn more about his net worth, his endorsement deals as well as his journey into music.<\/p>\n
Wizkid was born Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun on the 16th of July 1990. He grew up in Surulere, Lagos in a family of 12 siblings. His mother is a Pentecostal Christian while his father practices Islam and has three wives.<\/p>\n
In mid-2009, Wizkid dropped out of Lagos State University (LASU) to focus on his craft. He later attended Lead City University but dropped out after completing two sessions.<\/p>\n
Wizkid\u2019s music was influenced by the likes of King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, and Bob Marley.<\/p>\n
He was initially known by the stage name Lil Prinz until 2006. The singer started recording music at age 11. He was able to release a collaborative album with a gospel group, the Glorious Five.<\/p>\n
One of Wizkid\u2019s initial mentors in the music industry, OJB Jezreel, a record producer prevented him from recording for a year. That was his period of education in music as he often visited OJB’s PointBeat Studios frequently where he watched 2 Face Idibia record songs for his Grass 2 Grace album. He was also present during the recording sessions for Sound Sultan’s debut album, Jagbajantis.<\/p>\n
The singer also mentioned Naeto C as one of the people who mentored and coached him when he was 15 years old.<\/p>\n
In 2009, Wizkid signed a record deal with Banky W’s record label Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). The singer rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song “Holla at Your Boy” from his debut studio album, Superstar (2011).<\/p>\n
Wizkid released the album in June 2011. The album was basically a fusion of elements of R&B, dancehall, and reggae. Wizkid collaborated with a wide range of music producers, including E-Kelly, Jay Sleek, Shizzi, DJ Klem, Masterkraft, Q-Beats and Samklef.<\/p>\n
The album also featured guest appearances from Banky W, Skales, D’Prince and Wande Coal. Wizkid hosted an album launch party at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel and Suites. The album’s launch party featured performances from Banky W, Skales, 2face Idibia, Samklef, Wande Coal, D’Prince, Olamide, eLDee, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, Lynxxx and Seyi Shay.<\/p>\n
Other hit tracks in the album include Tease Me\/Bad Guys, Don’t Dull, Love My Baby, Pakurumo and Oluwa Lo Ni.<\/p>\n
The song, Holla at your boy from Wizkid\u2019s album, Superstar earned him the Next Rated award at The Headies 2011.<\/p>\n
When E.M.E released their compilation album, the EME acts toured the United States with the tour kicking off on 4 July 2012 and ending on the 2nd<\/sup> of September 2012. The EME acts performed in several different cities, including Houston, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, New York City, Providence, Calgary, Atlanta, Washington DC, and Chicago.<\/p>\n The singer also toured London in 2012 and performed at the HMV Apollo on 4 June 2012. The singer also performed at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Live 02 Academy in Brixton alongside Trey Songz, Tulisa, Kendrick Lamar and Angel in November 2012.<\/p>\n In 2013, Wizkid performed at the 2013 edition of Felabration, a yearly concert dedicated to the late Fela Kuti. Wizkid also performed at the Guinness Colorful World of More concert alongside D’banj, Tiwa Savage, P-Square, Davido, Ice Prince, Burna Boy, Olamide and Phyno, among others that year.<\/p>\n The concert took place at the Eko Convention Centre of the Eko Hotels and Suites. In November 2013, Wizkid also performed at the Guinness Big Eruption Concert. He was invited as a special guest for some shows in Tinie Tempah’s tour of the UK in 2014. Wizkid left E.M.E in 2014 after the expiration of his 5-year recording contract.<\/p>\n Wizkid began working on his second studio album in 2012 and continued through 2014. It featured guest appearances from Femi Kuti, Banky W., Seyi Shay, Phyno, Tyga, Akon and Wale.<\/p>\n The album was produced by the likes of Sarz, Shizzi, Uhuru, Del B, Dokta Frabz, Maleek Berry, Legendury Beatz and Spellz. It was initially titled Chosen but was later changed to Ayo and it was released in September 2014.<\/p>\n Some of the hit tracks in the album include the likes of Jaiye Jaiye, On Top Your Matter, One Question, Joy, Bombay and Show You the Money.<\/p>\n In 2015, Wizkid released the music video for \u201cOjuelegba.\u201d It was a song where he spoke about the early years of his recording career. The official remix to the song features vocals from Drake and Skepta; it premiered on OVO Sound Radio in July 2015.<\/p>\n It was one of the hit tracks from his third album, \u2018Sounds from the Other Side\u2019. The album also featured collaboration with Chris Brown titled “African Bad Gyal”, and said that it would be the lead single off the upcoming album.<\/p>\n In April 2015, both Wizkid and Chris Brown performed the song together at the latter’s concert in Durban, South Africa. He also featured Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo on the album<\/p>\n In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the global hit, “One Dance”, which reached number one in 15 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.<\/p>\n Also, he became Nigeria’s first artist to emerge on Billboard\u2019s Twitter Last 24 hours chart, the single charted at number 21 and on the 12th<\/sup> of May 2016, the song reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it kept for 10 non-consecutive weeks.<\/p>\n In 2017, Wizkid signed a multi-album deal with RCA Records. The deal was confirmed by the CEO of RCA Records, Peter Edge, confirmed the signing while speaking to Music Business Worldwide in January 2017.<\/p>\n In 2018, Wizkid also became the first Afrobeats artist to appear in the 2018 Guinness World Records for his contribution to Drake’s hit song “One Dance”.<\/p>\n Wizkid is the founder of label imprint Starboy Entertainment. The singer signed Maleek Berry to his record label in 2013. He also signed producers Uzezi Oniko and Okiemute Oniko, popularly known as Legendury Beatz, to his imprint.<\/p>\n The label\u2019s first official single was the hit track, ‘Caro’. In 2016, Wizkid announced the signings of Efya, R2Bees, and Mr Eazi to Starboy Entertainment. He was said to have made the announcement shortly after his performance at the 17th edition of the Ghana Music Awards.<\/p>\n Apart from his solo career, Wizkid has also worked with several other artists. He featured on the hits like Girl (with Bracket), Fine Lady (with Lynxxx), Sexy Mama (with Iyanya), Slow Down (with R2Bees), The Matter (with Maleek Berry), Pull Over (with KCee) and Bad Girl (with Jesse Jagz).<\/p>\n In 2012, Wizkid signed a one-year endorsement deal with Pepsi reportedly worth 350,000 U.S dollars. He traveled to Beirut, Lebanon with Tiwa Savage for a Pepsi commercial shoot. At the expiration of his contract, the deal was renewed for another two years.<\/p>\n In 2013, he also signed a one-year deal with MTN Nigeria. The singer later ditched MTN for Glo in 2015 when he signed a N128 million deal with the Nigerian telecoms giant.<\/p>\n On the 23rd<\/sup> of October 2013, it was reported that Wizkid had signed an endorsement deal with Guinness for the \u2018Guinness World of More\u2019 concert, which was held at the Eko Convention Centre of the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos.<\/p>\n Wizkid has also bagged lucrative deals with the likes of Ciroc. He joins music mogul, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs as one of the brand ambassador of Ciroc. Other Nigerian celebrities like Toke Makinwa, Tekno, Banky W and D\u2019banj have in the past served as brand ambassadors of CIROC Nigeria.<\/p>\n Wizkid also has lucrative deals in the fashion industry. In 2018, he signed a deal with Nike and he was involved in the Dolce & Gabbana’s summer collection show in Milan.<\/p>\n These deals have helped the singer earn an income from the fashion industry as a celebrity model.<\/p>\n During the D & G show in Milan, Wizkid joined the like of Boris Becker\u2019s son, Elias Becker, Nash Grier and Cameron Dallas on the runway. He wore an ostentatious clothing and a mask and walked down the runway accompanied by globally-acclaimed model, Naomi Campbell who wore a pin-striped suit and fedora. It was said that D&G paid at least $20,000 for the Starboy.<\/p>\n Also, Wizkid posed in Nike’s tracksuit for the Nigerian Super Eagles following the deal between Nike and the Nigerian Football Federation which was said to be worth an estimated $3.75 million.<\/p>\n Wizkid represented the Naija collection from Nike as he was contracted to model for the company. He joined Nigerian footballer, Alex Iwobi and several others to model for the Super Eagles jerseys. The move proved brilliant with the success record in sales in the first day of release. It was said that Wizkid received over $10,000 from the Nike deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly known as Wizkid is one of the top entertainers in the country. He was ranked 5th … <\/p>\nWizkid Endorsements<\/strong><\/h2>\n