Brief Recap
On the 30th of October, 2020, Wizkid premiered his 4th studio album, Made In Lagos – MIL by Starboy Entertainment and RCA Records. The 14-rack project features guest appearances from the likes of Burna Boy, Skepta, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Tay Iwar, Projexx, Tems, and Terri. On the 27th of August, the deluxe edition was released, which features additional guest appearances from Buju and Justin Bieber.
Music producers who jointly worked on this body of work include; P2J, Kel-P, Blaqjerzee, London, Kill September, Sarz, Juls, Legendury Beatz, P.Priime.
In 2019, Wizkid released the EP Soundman Vol. 1, centering mainly on Wizkid, and containing features from Chronixx on the track Jam, and a variety of other producers. It was cited as a marketing strategy to test the Afro-European market for Made In Lagos.
Big Wiz premiered Made In Lagos last October, and we can all agree that it’s been a grace-filled journey ever since. Made In Lagos has turned out to not only be Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun’s biggest project yet, but we can also agree that Wizkid has achieved more than he ever has in his entire career with this single album.
The Afrobeat and R n B infused album, is one for all ages, which was teasingly referred to as – the “30 +” album, as the younger generation thought that the types of the song on it were different than what they are used to. However, as time went by, it became evident that all they needed to do was give the album some time to sink. In no time, Made In Lagos became everyone’s favorite, giving rise to a balance in cultural diversity.
Made In Lagos In All Its Glory
In the space of 1 year, Wizkid has been able to achieve so much, with his single album, proving to everyone who cares to listen that he is truly the G.O.A.T.
Below are the listed achievements of the MIL album:
- Highest-charting Nigerian album of all time on the Billboard 20 chart (#28)
2. Longest-charting Nigerian album this century on the Billboard 200 chart (17 weeks).
3. Longest-charting Nigerian album of all time on the Billboard World Albums chart (50 weeks).
4. First Nigerian album to spend multiple weeks at #1 on the Billboard World Albums chart (3 weeks).
5. First Nigerian album to spend a year on the Billboard World Albums Chart.
6. Longest-charting Nigerian album on the UK Albums chart this decade (6 weeks).
7. First Nigerian artist in history to simultaneously chart on the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 (16 weeks).
8. First Nigerian song to reach the Top on the Hot 100 – “Essence”.
9. Longest-charting single by an African artist on the Hot 100 – “Essence”
10. First African song to sell over 1.5 million units (almost multi-Platinum) in the U.S – “Essence”.
11. First African album to reach the Top 5 on U.S Apple music.
12. First African album to debut on the Spotify U.S. album and Global album charts (#10).
13. First Nigerian album to score two entries on the U.K singles chart: “Essence” (#16), “Ginger” (#67).
14. Highest-peaking African album on U.S iTunes – #3
15. Surpassed 1 billion streams across Apple Music, Audiomack, Spotify, YouTube, Boomplay, and Pandora in 10 months.
17. Nominated at the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony coming up in January 2022.
The categories are:
Album – Best Global Music Album,
Track; Essence – Best Global Music Performance
18. Won Best Collaboration award at the BET Soul Train 2021 awards-ceremony with the hit track ‘Essence’.
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