Wizkid debut album “Superstar” clocks 10 years, and the superstar himself reflects on his life and music in a new docuseries titled “A Superstar Made In Lagos”.
In the documentary, Wizkid reflects on the early days of his career and getting signed to the Banky W co-founded label, Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E).
He said: “Me getting signed by Banky was one of the most amazing things that ever happened to me. It was just an amazing moment for me, man. It changed my life. And I wanna thank Banky for understanding the vision and taking me under his wings like his little brother.”
The documentary also features well known names in the Nigerian entertainment industry who has played one role or the other in Wizkid’s career growth. Influential people like Banky W, Basketmouth, Anthony Joshua, Starboy Terri and the likes had their views on Starboy.
Banky W, who signed Wizkid at 19 years old in 2009, and executively produced the album, shares:
“He would just go to any studio where they would let him hang out. He would hang out all day and just wait, and hope and pray for the engineers or producers to take pity at him and say ‘come and record for 15/30 minutes’, because obviously he couldn’t pay for his own sessions. All day long, he would be working on hooks, melodies, and just coming up with things, in case he was given an opportunity to jump on the mic for a few minutes. For me, I think that’s where the name ‘wiz’ comes from and why it’s so appropriate… and obviously the ‘kid’ because he was very small in stature, but big in heart”
Ten years later, Starboy is now an international superstar with countless awards and nominations. He has been instrumental in the recent global recognition of Afrobeats, having worked with the likes of Beyoncé, Drake, Chris Brown, Wale, Skepta, Damian Marley and more. He contributed to Beyonce’s anthem, “Brown Skin Girl”, which won at the last Grammy awards, and he also famously assisted Drake to get his first Billboard Hot 100 number one single, as the lead artist, with “One Dance”.
Many fans and critics agree that “Superstar” is a classic, and was a monumental album for contemporary Nigerian music. Wizzy’s sound has evolved since then, but his debut album laid the foundation for it all, and if the title is anything to go by, Wizkid and Banky W ,who gave the album its name and used to call Wiz a superstar, believed he would be where he is today. His latest album Made In Lagos with singles like “Ginger” and “Essence” are critically acclaimed, and continues to soar.
He’s indeed “A Superstar Made In Lagos”.
The full documentary is on StarBoyTV YouTube channel.
