Wizkid manifested his superstardom with his debut album, “Superstar” but that was just the beginning of what was to come.
In a 2017 interview, Wizkid had already called it that “Made in Lagos,” his fourth studio album, would be the best work of his career so far. He then went on to create the masterpiece for three years, and deep into the global pandemic.
The thing is, what makes Wizkid the biggest in the game is him truly being about quality music. That and his dedication to spreading love to the world through his musical passion which has always been at the forefront of his artistry.
The Making of “Made in Lagos”
Over the past decade, Wizkid took the time, work, and patience that is required for an artist to perfect their sound and you can hear his maturity and progression on “Made In Lagos.”
You can even hear it in the handpicked features; they make the album’s cohesion even more seamless.
The features not only elevated the tracks, but they also either intertwined with Wizkid’s sound or helped show a different side that listeners haven’t heard yet.
On “Piece of Me,” for example, Wizkid’s innate sauce blending with Ella Mai’s smooth tone, along with the nostalgic R&B production by P2J turned out to be the perfect formula.
Then you have tracks like “Ginger” featuring Burna Boy and “Essence” featuring Tems where they’re features that we’ve all been waiting on and it fulfills your expectations.
What makes these features so special is that you can hear the energy swapping between each artist and Wizkid. That’s because of his rule of thumb that the studio’s energy has to be correct, as well as the collaborations must be organic.
“This album I made sure that every time I go in the room with any artist that I wanted to work with, I made sure that it was just great vibes,” he told DJ Manny Norte on Capital XTRA. “I made sure that we’re friends, like great people.”
“Made in Lagos” is Timeless
“Made In Lagos” wasn’t just the album of the year 2020, but fans all over the world are yet to grow tired of the music, a testament to how timeless the sounds are.
A year and half after, you can say it has aged like fine wine. It’s one of those albums where you find a new favorite song the more that you listen to it.
Wizkid is a legend and the music he creates goes beyond the idea of “crossing over” to mainstream American music.
His music has heavily influenced not just Nigeria’s music scene, but Africa as a whole, and in the months that have passed since the release, we have been watching the colossal rise and takeover of Afrobeats.
Taking a look through his discography, even off just features alone, Wizkid deserves his flowers for being one of the young pioneers for putting Nigerian and African music on the map during the entire 2010s and up until now.
“Made in Lagos” made something happen in 2020, and no album released after that is yet to top it. Heck, the album is still in the top ten in Nigeria and number one on the Billboard World. That really is something!
Do You Still Play Wizkid’s “Made in Lagos”?
Let’s hear from you.
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