Wizkid at 36: 20 landmark achievements that cement his legacy as Africa's greatest

Ayodeji Balogun, AKA Wizkid, is an African music royalty who needs no introduction. Since announcing himself in the Nigerian music scene in 2010 with his smash hit single 'Holla At Your Boy,' he has ascended to unprecedented heights that have redefined the image of the African youth on the global stage.

July 16 marks the birthday of the Afrobeats superhero whose music and success have helped propel Nigerian and African pop music to global heights.

In a career that has spanned nearly 20 years, Wizkid has shaped the dance floor, charts, and different eras of Nigerian music with a collection of hit songs, albums, and iconic moments that continue to be widely celebrated.

As the Grammy winner marks yet another birthday, we take this moment to revisit some of his iconic successes and how they define his longevity, impact, and status as perhaps Afrobeats greatest ever musician.

Below are 20 landmark accomplishments by Wizkid, who clocks 36 today.

'One Dance' with Drake topped the Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts in 14 additional countries, making Wizkid the first Afrobeats artist to appear in the Guinness World Records. The song's historic run in 2016 announced to the world that African music had arrived at the very highest level of global pop.

Wizkid became the first African artist to surpass 10 billion streams on Spotify across all credits. This is a landmark achievement that reflects his sustained dominance on the global music scene. He is also the first to reach every billion-stream milestone from 1 billion to 10 billion on the platform.

'Essence' featuring Tems made history as the first Nigerian song to chart on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Global 200. It debuted at number 82 and set in motion a cultural moment that would carry Afrobeats deeper into the American mainstream than it had ever gone before.

The Justin Bieber-assisted 'Essence' remix made history as the first Nigerian track in history to hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, climbing to number 9. The song, which was described by Kanye West as the greatest ever in the history of music, propelled Wizkid and Afrobeats to global fame.

Wizkid won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video for his contribution to Beyoncé's 'Brown Skin Girl'. The win made him one of the very few African artists to hold a Grammy and cemented his place among global music's most decorated names.

With more than 18 wins, Wizkid is the most-awarded artist in The Headies award history. The Headies is Nigeria's most prestigious music awards ceremony, and his record shows his consistency and commercial impact across eras, genres, and generations.

Wizkid is one of the most-awarded African artists at the BET Awards (4), Soul Train Awards (3), Billboard Awards (3), iHeartRadio Music Awards (5), NAACP Image Awards (8) and MOBO Awards (6). There is hardly any African artist who comes close to matching his trophy haul across this range of major international platforms.

In 2021, Wizkid sold out London's O2 Arena for three consecutive dates — the first African artist to do so. When he sold out its first stop in 12 minutes, only five other acts had ever achieved it in that time or less: Beyoncé, Rihanna, The Rolling Stones, Spice Girls, and Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Wizkid became the first Nigerian artist with a Billboard Hot 100 number one single when he featured on Drake's 'One Dance' alongside Kyla in 2016. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for 10 non-consecutive weeks, and topped the charts in 14 additional countries.

Wizkid was the first African member and also one of the first members ever of Spotify's Billions Club when Drake's 'One Dance' became the very first song to hit one billion streams on the streaming service in 2016.

He holds the record as the African artist with the most RIAA certifications, with at least eight US certifications across his catalogue as both a lead and featured artist, including 'Essence' (4x Platinum), 'Come Closer' (Platinum), and 'One Dance' (11x Platinum). He also became the first African artist to receive an RIAA Diamond certification with 'One Dance'.

Wizkid became the first and only African artist to headline and perform at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, with over 60,000 fans attending his More Love Less Ego concert on 29 July 2023. It remains the biggest headline show ever staged by an African artist in the United Kingdom.

In 2018, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton declared 6 October every year as Wizkid Day in the state, honouring Wizkid's achievements in music and his role as one of the biggest cultural influencers of his time. The honour was tied to him becoming the first African artist to ever sell out the Skyway Theatre in Minnesota.

'Made in Lagos' is the first African album to be RIAA-certified Gold in the US, with half a million in sales units. Released in October 2020, it remains one of the most consequential albums in African music history.

In November 2021, Apple Music announced Wizkid as the winner of Artist of the Year (Africa) — the first African artist to win this award. He repeated the feat in 2025, closing the year as the most-streamed artist on both Spotify Nigeria and Apple Music Nigeria.

'Morayo' earned 16.27 million streams in its first full day of release on Spotify, marking the biggest debut of any African album on the platform.

Wizkid became the first African artist to secure up to seven Billboard nominations at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, earning nods for Top Hot 100 Song, Top Selling Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song (Audio), Top Collaboration, Top R&B Song, and Top R&B Collaboration. The nominations came on the back of 'One Dance' and confirmed that Wizkid was no longer just a global phenomenon — he was a serious commercial force by American industry standards.

In 2025, Wizkid officially surpassed 20 billion global audio-on-demand streams, becoming the first African artist in history to reach this milestone.

Wizkid received the BRIT Billion Award for exceeding one billion streams in the United Kingdom, becoming the first African artist to receive this honour.