Wizkid Biography, Net Worth, Endorsements & More

This article contains information on the biography of Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, Wizkid Ayo, Wizzy or Starboy, the most decorated Nigerian music artiste ever (the most decorated African artiste internationally), and one of the most revolutionary Afro-pop artistes of the modern era. In this post, we shall discuss his net worth, endorsements, songs and record deals, as well as his investments.

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun was born on July 16th, 1990, in Ojuelegba, Surulere, Lagos into a polygamous, multi-religious family, with his father being a Muslim and his Mother, a Christian. He alongside Davido, Don Jazzy and a host of other top artistes, are some of the richest musicians in Nigeria.

Growing up, Wizkid preferred to go with his mother to church and it did not take him long before he joined his church choir and began singing at age 11. Due to his vocal abilities, Wizkid rose rapidly and was made a lead singer in the choir, and prior to his major breakthrough in 2009, he released a couple of albums which were not considered successful.

Back at the church choir where he sang, he produced an album and formed a music group consisting of four of his friends. The group was named “Glorious Five”. When Wizkid decided to go solo, he had a couple of stage names which he went by, the most prominent being “Lil Prinz”, a stage name which he used to record a seven-track album.

Wizkid’s major breakthrough in the Nigerian music scene came in 2009 when he did a collaboration with M.I. Abaga, one of the finest rappers in the country, to release the track Fast Money. The music track was a hit which got nominated for and won several awards. It also received massive airplay in and out of the country.

His stock continued to rise and in 2010, he released the hit single Holla at Your Boy which gained him a lot of popularity and massive following all over Nigeria. The song won him the Next Rated award at the 2011 Headies awards organized by HIP TV, an authority music television station in the country. Wizkid also got nominated for Best Pop Single in the same year.

His music video for Holla at Your Boy was nominated in 2011 for Most Gifted Newcomer Video at the Channel O Music Video Awards. The same music video also earned Wizkid another nomination for Best Afro Pop Video at the 2011 Nigeria Music Video Awards (NMVA).

Since his breakthrough in 2010 when he released Holla at Your Boy under Banky W’s record label, E.M.E, Wizkid evolved to a whole new level. His evolution in the music scene has been so rapid that some people now regard him as the King of Music in Nigeria and in extension, Africa.

Wizkid has collaborated with top musical acts both locally and internationally to propagate music that is widely received by everyone irrespective of age. Top-rated music artistes that Starboy has associated with include:

• 2 Baba (Tuface Idibia)
• Naeto C
• Sound Sultan
• OJB Jezreel
• M. I. Abaga
• Drake
• Chris Brown
• Trey Songz
• French Montana
• Kranium
• Ty Dolla $ign.

In 2016, Wizkid became the first Nigerian music artiste to feature on Billboard’s Twitter Last 24 hours chart following his guest appearance on Drake’s afrobeat-infused One Dance single. The music track made its debut at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and in May 2016, the track reached number-one on the chart, maintaining that position for 10 non-consecutive weeks. The song also became an international hit, topping the charts in at least 15 countries in the world, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany.

WIZKID PERSONAL LIFE

As at the time of writing, Wizkid is not married to anyone but he is a proud father of four children, three boys, and a daughter, and the children were born to him by three different women. Boluwatife Balogun, is the name of Wizkid’s first son and the name of the child’s mother is Oluwanisola Ogudugu. Boluwatife was born in 2011 when his mother was still a teenager at 19 years of age.

Wizkid initially denied paternity of the child but DNA testing proved that he, in fact, is indeed the father of the boy. It took him over two years to come to accept his responsibility as the father of the child. His second son, Ayodeji Balogun, is the product of the love affair between him and Binta Diallo, a Guinean-American model. The child was born in 2016 by Binta and it took another DNA test for Wizkid to accept the child.

Wizkid’s third son, Zion Ayo Balogun was born to him and Jada Pollock, his manager, in 2017, and there was no need for a paternity test for this one to be fully accepted. Jada Pollock is a British brand consultant who has worked with the likes of Chris Brown and Pia Mia. In October 2021, she gave birth to Wizkid’s first daughter and their second child who is soon to be named as at the time of writing.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS 

Wizkid has several awards to his name for his contributions to the Nigerian music industry, chief of which is the Grammy Award for Best Music Video as a lead artiste on Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl”. This happens to be his first ever Grammy Award. He is the most decorated African artiste at the BET Awards (3), Soul Train Awards (2), Billboard Awards (3), iHeartRadio Music Awards (2) and MOBO Awards (4).

Wizkid is also a recipient of an ASCAP plaque for his songwriting contributions to Drake’s “One Dance”. He was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019, and he is also the most decorated Nigerian music artiste in The Headies awards history.

WIZKID NET WORTH 2024 

The current net worth of Wizkid in US Dollars this 2024 stands at an estimated $40 million, making him one of the richest musicians in Nigeria today as well as one of the wealthiest on the African continent. Wizkid saw his earnings increase in recent times and this is largely due to his success and recognition internationally. He is presently one of the most recognized, most influential and most marketable musicians in Africa and on the global stage, the Grammy Award winner continues to receive plenty of recognition for his unique music style.

In 2018, Wizkid raked in a handsome $681,200, for a performance at a Royal wedding, which took place at Umaid Bhawan Palace, India. He also sold out tickets at the London O2 Arena, for his Afro Republik concert which saw 20,000 fans in attendance. In 2019, he sold out his Nike Starboy jersey two consecutive times and modelled for Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) in Italy and Moschino. He is also a brand ambassador for Ciroc, a popular Vodka brand. Wizkid owns customized Starboy Ciroc bottles.

WIZKID ENDORSEMENTS

Wizkid is widely rumoured to be charging about N6 million per show. Apart from his music, some top endorsement deals net him some serious money as well.

Some of his endorsements include:

• One year Pepsi deal in 2012 worth $350,000
• ₦110 million Contract with MTN in 2013
• ₦128 million Contract with GLO in 2015
• A mouth watering endorsement deal with Guinness for the Guinness Colourful World of More concert
• $3.75 million endorsement deal with NIKE and NFF in 2018
• $3 million endorsement deal with UBA in 2019

WIZKID INVESTMENTS

Wizkid is the owner of the record label, Star-boy Entertainment, which was established in 2013. In addition to that, Star boy also owns two mansions, one in Lekki, Lagos and the other one in Los Angeles, USA. The Lekki mansion is said to be worth about ₦70 million. Wizkid also owns different expensive cars such as BMWX6, Hyundai Sonata, Bentley, and Porsche Panamera.

WIZKID RELATIONSHIPS 

Starboy’s romantic life is well documented in the media. His affinity for beautiful women is something of a trademark. Since he burst into the scene in the Nigerian music industry, has been linked to beautiful women such as Sophie Rammal, Tonto Dikeh, Victoria Kimani, Hudda Monroe, Seyi Shay, Tania Omotayo, Justine Skye a US-based singer, and all his baby mamas.

WIZKID SONGS

According to Nigerian Infopedia, here is a list of all Wizkid’s songs so far:

• Say my Name
• No lele
• Scatter the Floor
• Pakurumo
• Wizkid ft Banky W- Slow Whine
• Love My Baby
• Gidi Girl
• Oluwa Loni
• Don’t dull
• Tease Me
• Wizkid ft skales & Banky w-EME boyz
• What You Wanna Do
• Wizkid ft Wandy Coal-Whine for me
• Wizkid ft D prince- Wad up
• Shout Out
• Baddest Boy
• Dance For Me
• Get Down Tonight
• KO Mo Me
• Sun Mo Mi
• Don’t Delay Me
• Change
• Joy
• On Top Your Matter
• One Question
• Bom Bay
• Show You The Money
• Ginger
• No Stress
• Smile
• Essence
• Blessed
• Longtime
• Reckless
• True Love
• Sweet One
• Piece of Me
• Mighty Wine
• Gyrate
• Grace
• Roma
• Oju Elegba
• Thank You
• In My Bed
• Wiz Part
• Mummy Mi
• Eledumare
• Expensive sh*t
• Azonto
• Kind love
• Beat Of Life
• Drop
• African Bad Girl
• Final
• Baba Nla
• Manya
• Yapa (remix)
• Medicine
• Odoo
• Medicine (remix)
• Sweet Love
• Come Closer ft drake
• Daddy Yo
• One For Me ft Ty dolla sign,
• Nobody
• Picture Perfect
• Sexy
• All For Love ft bucie
• Dirty wine ft Ty dolla sign
• Gbese ft. Trey songzs
• Nasty ride ft ty dolla sign
• Ghetto Youth
• Body hot (remix) ft praiz
• Wine to the top (remix)
• You don’t know (ft wizkid) – Justine
• One Dance -Drake ft wizkid & Kyle
• Shabba ft Chris Brown
• Soco instrumental
• Lowky
• Juru
• Brown Skin Girl
• Totori
• Kana
• Low
• Show You The Money
• Fibadi
• Dis Love
• I Like
• G Love
• Jaiye Jaiye
• Danger
• Electric
• Thankful
• Blow
• PAMI (feat. Wizkid, Adekunle Gold & Omah Lay)
• Cool Me Down
• Opo
• Talk
• Dj Pet Fake Love (feat. Wizkid)

STUDIO ALBUMS AND EXTENDED PLAYS (EP)

To date, Wizkid has a collection of four (4) studio albums to his name and two (2) extended plays. His studio albums include the following:

Studio albums

• Superstar (2011)
• Ayo (2014)
• Sounds from the Other Side (2017)
• Made in Lagos (2020).

Wizkid’s Compilation albums and Extended Plays include:

• Empire Mates State of Mind (with EME) (2012)
• Soundman Vol. 1 (2019).