The supremacy battle between Nigerian music heavyweights,Ayodeji Balogun aka Wizkid and David Adeleke aka Davido, seems to have simmered a little after their open declaration of affection for each other at the latter’s N30 Billion 2017 concert in Lagos.
But fans of both superstars have continued to compare the achievements of the singers especially in the international music scene. There’s no doubt both Wizkid and Davido wield fairly intimidating fan bases both home and abroad, hence the nonstop assessment of “who is what” or “who has done what first”.
THE WHISTLER takes a look at how two of Nigeria biggest music acts Wizkid, Davido perform internationally.
We compare their global shows, international collaborations, nominations/awards, fanbase and numbers on music charts abroad.
Wizkid, 28, was born in Surulere, Lagos, to a lower middle class family. He rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song “Holla at Your Boy” from his 2011 debut “Superstar” album which features singles like, “Tease Me/Bad Guys”, “Don’t Dull”, “Love My Baby”, “Pakurumo” and “Oluwa Lo Ni”.
“Ayo” his self-titled second studio album, was released in September 2014. It was supported by six singles: “Jaiye Jaiye”, “On Top Your Matter”, “One Question”, “Joy”, “Bombay” and “Show You the Money”. Following the release of his second studio album and expiration of his 5-year recording contract, Wizkid left E.M.E.
In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the global hit, “One Dance”,
While, Davido 26, is a son of a billionaire who rose to fame in 2011 with the release of “Dami Duro”, the second single from his debut studio album Omo Baba Olowo (2012). The album featured six singles: “Back When”, “Ekuro”, “Overseas”, “All of You”, “Gbon Gbon”, and “Feel Alright”.
In 2012, Davido won The Headies Award for Next Rated. Between 2013 and 2015, he released the hit singles “Gobe”, “One of a Kind”, “Skelewu”, “Aye”, “Tchelete (Goodlife)” featuring Mafikizolo, “Naughty” featuring DJ Arafat, “Owo Ni Koko”, “The Sound” and “The Money” featuring Olamide.
In January 2016, Davido signed a record deal with international record label Sony Music while Wizkid signed a deal with the same record label in 2017.
below are some analysis pointing out how the two artists have fared internationally.
Shows: Wizkid performed at the BBC Radio 1Xtra Live 02 Academy in Brixton alongside Trey Songz, Tulisa, Kendrick Lamar and Angel. he was also invited as a special guest for some shows in Tinie Tempah’s tour of the UK in 2014.
In May 2016 he joined Chris Brown on his “One Hell of a Nite” world tour, Wizkid, performed alongside Jay Z, Beyonce, Usher and Ed Sheeran on stage at the 2018 Global Citizen Festival in South Africa.
Adding to his achievements He also made history by being the first African artiste to sell out the Royal Albert Hall in London, and shut down the AfroRepublik concert which held at the 20,000 capacity 02 arena, London on Saturday, May 26, 2018.
On the other hand, Davido also performed at Jay Z’s MADE IN AMERICA concert alongside notable International acts such as; Meek Mill, Post Malone, Nikki Minaj and a host of others.
In 2018, he also performed at the ONE MUSIC FESTIVAL alongside NAS, Cardi B, Big Sean and Other renowned International acts.
House of Blues Boston Presented by Cricket Wireless, Boston, MA, US.
Made in America Festival 2018, Philadelphia, PA, US.
ONE LOVE ONE HEART REGGAE FESTIVAL 2018.
Yolo County Fairgrounds, Woodland, CA, US, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, US.
The Fillmore Silver Spring, Silver Spring, MD, US’ One Musicfest 2018
Central Park, Atlanta, GA, US, One Music Fest 2018.
The Ballroom at Warehouse Live, Houston, TX.
The Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX, US,
The Novo by Microsoft, Los Angeles, CA, US, August Hall, San Francisco, CA, US,
Then he sold-out the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena, London, UK
Top charts: Wizkid bagged 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 in Africa ranking in the 2017 Billboard Music Awards.
Davido’s “Fall” made history as the first-ever African music video to reach 100 million views on YouTube, making it the most watched Nigerian music video on YouTube. And it officially became the longest-charting Nigerian single in the history of the Billboard charts. It’s also on the top 100 most Shazamed songs.
International awards: Wizkid is also the first Nigerian (if not African), to bag an international award from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the award was given to Wizkid in recognition of his role in the writing of Drake’s chart-topping hit single “One Dance”.
He also won ‘Best International Act: Africa’ title from BET 2017
Best International Act’ – MOBO 2017 Award for ‘One Dance’ hit
Hip Hop Song of 2017’ (the prize was given by iHeartRadio)
Song of 2017’ by Echo Award ‘One Dance’ song
Top R&B Record’ of 2017 by Billboard
Winner of MTV Europe Music Prize as the ‘Best African Act’
2016 MTV Europe prize, the ‘Best Worldwide Act’ 2016
Teen Choice 2016 ‘Pop Artist of 2015’ by City People Entertainment Award
BET ‘Best International Act: Africa 2012.
Davido won BET ‘Best International Act: Africa 2014.
BET ‘Best International Act: Africa 2018.
International collaborations: Wizkid’s collaborations include: Come Close ft Drake; Sundown ft Zara Larsson; Wine to the Top ft Vijbz; Like This ft DJ Henry; Shabba ft Chris Brown, Trey Songz and French Montana; Mamacita ft Tinnie Tempah; Ojuelegba remix ft Drake; One Dance ft Drake; Soweto Baby ft DJ Maphorisa, DJ Buck; and African Bad Gyal ft Chris Brown. It should be noted that it doesn’t matter who features who, just as long as it is a collaboration.
Davido’s collaboration includes: Fans Mi ft Meek Mill; Fine Girl ft Wale and Olamide; Tichelet ft Mafikizolo; The Sound ft Uhuru and DJ Buckz and the recently released remix of “fall” featuring Busta rhymes and Prayah.
Endorsement: In 2018 Wizkid signed an endorsement deal with CIROC involving Sean Diddy a top brand ambassador and joint owner.
He also signed a lucrative deal with NIKE and Dolce & Gabbana, two giants in the world fashion industry as a celebrity model. It was rumoured that D&G paid Wizkid $20,000 for wearing a lucid clothing with a mask just to walk down the runway with Naomi Campbell at the D & G show in milan.
Social media: Both of them are very active on the social media. And yet again it’s a close call between them.
Instagram followers as at 5 march, 2019: Davido- 9.8M; Wizkid – 7.2M
Twitter followers as at 5 march, 2019: Davido – 4.54M; Wizkid – 4.6M
However, Wizkid was the first Nigerian musician to get over one million followers on twitter.
It is very hard to obtain views of all their songs on YouTube. For this reason, we have selected their most popular songs.
Davido’s fall – 115M views; Wizkid’s Ojuelegba – 30M views.Aside the above listed points, the both artists seem to have similarities in their love life as Wizkid is a father to three boys from three different mothers while Davido, 26, has two daughters from two different mothers.So who do you think deserves our award as the Most Globally Recognised Singer between the two?
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