Wizkid clocks 36 today. From a 12-minute sellout to 20 billion streams, here’s why fans still call him Africa’s greatest export.
Twelve minutes. That’s how fast Wizkid sold out London’s O2 Arena, a feat only five acts in history had ever pulled off before him, including Beyoncé and The Rolling Stones. Today, the Afrobeats icon turns 36, and that single moment barely scratches the surface of what he’s built.
Born Ayodeji Balogun, Wizkid didn’t just make hit songs. He rewrote what was possible for African artists on the world stage. Nearly two decades after his breakout single put him on the map, his birthday feels like the right moment to ask: how did one Lagos boy end up reshaping global pop?
Start with the streams. Wizkid is the first African artist to cross 10 billion streams on Spotify, and he didn’t stop there, by 2025, he’d blown past 20 billion global streams, another first. He also holds more RIAA certifications than any other African act, including a rare Diamond certification.
His 2016 feature on Drake’s “One Dance” made him the first Nigerian artist to top the Billboard Hot 100, a run that lasted ten weeks and spread across 14 countries. Years later, “Essence” with Tems became the first Nigerian song ever charted on the Hot 100, and once Justin Bieber hopped on the remix, it climbed to No. 9, the highest a Nigerian track had ever gone.
In 2023, Wizkid became the first African artist to headline Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, pulling over 60,000 fans. Back in Minnesota, officials were so moved by his impact that they declared October 6th “Wizkid Day.” Add a Grammy win, two Apple Music Africa Artist of the Year titles, and more Headies wins than anyone in the award’s history, and a picture emerges of an artist who never really slowed down.
What makes Wizkid’s story compelling isn’t just the trophies it’s the pattern. Nearly every milestone on this list starts with the word “first.”
