Augustina OkpechiWith Afrobeat becoming more of a dominant sound, Wizkid is currently embarked on his first world tour with his “revolutionary African pop” album, Made In Lagos in celebration of the ten years anniversary of his debut album Superstar.
The tour which is to take place across America, Canada and London saw the complete sale of tickets even before the start of the tour. As of June 25, tickets for Brooklyn New York which was scheduled to happen on September 11 was fully sold out. And in 12 minutes, tickets for London was sold out.
Wizkid is currently topping the chart for the third week as the most shazamed artist in the United States. Made in Lagos is also #47 on the Billboard 200 this week. He is also the face of the American international monthly men’s magazine, GQ for October issue, crowned “King of Afropop” and the go-to guy for international A-list artists. “He has a vibe of, like, this king type of thing,” says Prince Gyasi, photographer for the October issue shoot. “He’s the guy Drake and Beyonce call up whenever they need a continent-spanning smash hit – and now, Lagos’s own Wizkid is taking over speakers everywhere with the sounds of home,” writes Edwin Stats Houghton.
In the US, Wizkid came into prominence in 2016 through his collaboration with Drake on the hit song One Dance. Over the years, he has worked with several chart-topping artists in the likes of Wale, Chris Brown, Major Lazor and others. His most recent collaboration with Beyonce, Blue Ivy and SAINt JHN Brown Skin Girl earned him his first Grammy Award win for Best Music Video this year, 2021.
It is, however, no wonder that Made in Lagos tour has brought good tidings for the artist Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun. Before the start of the tour, Wizkid’s fans took to Twitter to wish the Nigerian singer well as he embarked on his MIL tour. The hashtag #prayerforwizkid trended on Friday the 10th, the date for his first tour stop in Boston at the Orpheum Theatre, through to Saturday the 11th.
“Oh Allah I pray over Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (Big Wiz) as he embarks on the Made in Lagos tour, I pray no evil will befall him, may he always be protected, I pray no mechanical errors or emergencies will occur #prayerforwizkid #madeinnigeriatour” tweeted by @WunmiGbadegesin
Other international artists in surprise also took to Twitter to commended Wizkid’s fans and Nigeria at large for such a thoughtful act.
“Yo Nigeria is at a different level of understanding the assignment, I saw #prayerforwizkid trending and I thought something happened. Whole time, they’re praying for him because he’s getting ready to go on a tour. Man, that’s incredible lol” tweeted R&B artist Kenyon Dixon.
Wizkid next tour is scheduled to hold at the Summit Music Hall, Denver, Colorado on September 22nd, after the high energy and crowd engagement at Brooklyn New York, the success of Boston, Massachusetts and SICK performances at Silver Spring, Maryland and Rivera Theatre, Chicago, Illinois.
According to Temi Ade, Head of Operation at Duke Concept, “this tour is monumental because first, it’s long overdue; Wizkid does not miss. His latest album is a critically acclaimed global hit with celebrities from every industry consistently praising and connecting with the music. Second, African artists really don’t get their flowers. The music industry has kept us in a sub-category that doesn’t fairly represent the magnitude of influence and support [of] African artists. Which has always been odd to us because the numbers have been consistently been competitive with mainstream artists. This tour represents a paradigm shift that’s been brewing for a while.”
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