famous rapper wale speak about wizkid success in his music Carrier

Wale showers praises on Wizkid's artistry In recent times, there have been speculations that Nigerian pop star Tiwa Savage may have signed to the American entertainment company owned by foremost rap star Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter. The news first broke in May 2016. Sources in the know say Jay Z, impressed by Tiwa’s catalogue and buzzing mainstream influence in Africa, ensured the deal pulled through. Following this, critics hold that the Eminado singer stands a better chance to fully break into international markets given the management support and wherewithal the new deal should bring forth.

Wizkid in the studio. Credit: Instagram All of this is great but it could have been Wizkid signing to Roc Nation first, Wale said in a recent interview with American radio station Hot 97 FM. The Matrimony rapper held that he’d initially sold the idea of signing the Ojuelegba crooner to Roc Nation but the suggestion fell on deaf ears. He also touched on the success stories of Davido and Olamide. He said: “ I’m proud of Davido and Wizkid, and Olamide. “There’s a lot of dope artistes coming out of there. I know it was going to get there, because [they’ve] got like a whole 60% of the swag in Africa come from Nigeria, and I have always known Wizkid.

Nigerian pop star Davido “I remember bringing the idea of signing Wizkid to Roc Nation, to the guys over here like earlier on…but that was way before this time, but I knew what it was gonna be. There’s so much money there, as far as like Dubai, London and all of that, I knew it was going to get there. “I got one [song] with Wizkid with Diplo, I’ve got like seven songs with Wizkid on the internet. But again, it was before this. Like again, If I had held on to him and put him on, it would have been a different story.” Recall that in May 2016, Wizkid’s collaboration with Drake on One Dance sent them both to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Wizkid and Drake make history as they hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song One Dance In the light of this, many have lauded the Nigerian pop star’s contributions to the making of the song but Wale believes Wizkid deserves more. In his words, Drake’s song Controlla was greatly inspired by Wizkid’s style, lyrics and delivery. He said about One Dance and Controlla: “I like how it’s doing, It sounds good. I would like to hear more of Wizkid on there, on One Dance. I can hear him on Controlla though. It sounds like a Wizkid song. “It sounds like a Wizkid song…The lyrics, everything. That’s just my opinion. I mean, [Drake’s] a phenomenal writer, performer and whatever, but I just feel like he sounds like Wizkid. “I’m not making no allegations, but I do feel like [Wizkid] had a lot of influence on Controlla. I mean I know Wizkid’s catalogue, he just sounds like the lyrics and everything.” On the heels of his global success and following, Wizkid has been touring across the world and selling out major shows. The Nigerian pop star is billed to perform in New York on July 22, 2016 at the One Africa Music Fest. The event is put together by Upfront & Personal courtesy of ace Nigerian publicist and events promoter Paul Okoye.

Rapper Wale speaks on the success of Wizkid He is also scheduled to perform at the Wireless Festival which holds from Friday, July 8 to Sunday, July 10, 2016 at Finsbury Park, London. The festival promises performances from several global music stars including Calvin Harris, Chase and Status and J. Cole among others. Wizkid is on a roll and his current achievements place him up there as the most successful Nigerian (perhaps African) artiste of the moment. It all started in 2015 after Skepta brought Drake’s attention to the Nigerian pop star by playing him the song Ojuelegba. This impressed the American rapper who later made a remix to the song in July 2015. By April 2016, the relationship had blossomed into a collaboration on the song One Dance off Drake’s new album Views. One Dance is the 12th track on the new album Views, the fourth studio album from Drake which was released by Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment and OVO Sound on Thursday, April 28, 2016. As at Wednesday, May 4 we reported that the track was sitting on the number two spot behind Panda by Desiigner.By May 10, the song had climbed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart recording an interesting feat for both Wizkid and Drake. Wizkid, formerly with EME records under Banky W, has managed to fly high in spite of being ruffled by a number of controversial issues such as baby mama dramas and allegations of song theft, among other things. The 25-year-old multi award-winning pop star and brand ambassador currently runs StarBoy Entertainment and has previously released two studio albums – Superstar and AYO. Watch the full Wale interview below: