Awards / Music / News

Billboard announces Wizkid as longest charting African artist, ‘Essence’ as longest charting African song

‘Essence’ which features songstress Tems has enjoyed an impressive level of success in the United States reaching the Billboard Top 10 and earning a platinum plaque in the process.

Billboard announcement is a confirmation of Wizkid’s success in the United States and an addition of another feather to his decorated cap. With his next album ‘More Love, Less Ego’ on the way, Wizkid will be looking to further break new ground internationally.

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Music / News

Wizkid reveals Justin Bieber reached out to him for the remix of ‘Essence’

Nigerian music superstar Wizkid has revealed that Justin Bieber reached out to him for the remix of his hit record ‘Essence’.

Wizkid had Bieber on the remix of his successful record ‘Essence’, which is off his 2020 album ‘Made in Lagos’.

Bieber’s appearance on the record has further driven the song up the Billboard Hot 100 Chart-the remix is currently number nine.

Speaking about the remix, Wizkid revealed that it was Bieber that reached out to him.

“He reached out to me and he loved the record. He sent the verse and it was just fire,” Wizkid told American entertainment media platform, Complex.

“We linked up and we performed it together. We got some more music together as well.”

Bieber was excited when he jumped on the remix, taking to his social media to thank Wiz for letting him be on the ‘song of the summer’

He also went ahead to create his video for his verse and brought out Wizkid to perform the song on his set at Made in America.

Wizkid has broken several records with the record ‘Essence’, which also features Nigerian singer Tems.

In July, it became the first Nigerian song to crack the Billboard Hot 100 chart and rose to top-20. In September, it topped the Billboard Hip Hop and R&B chart and in October became the first Nigerian song to be certified platinum in the United States.

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Entertainment / Music / News

Wizkid’s ‘Essence’ cracks top 10 of Billboard Hot 100

On Monday, October 11, 2021, Grammy-winning Nigerian superstar, Wizkid’s smash hit single, ‘Essence’ hit a new peak of No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Just week ago, the record at at No. 11. The record is also looking good on the Shazam and Urban Radio charts. This comes after ‘Made In Lagos’ hit one billion streams across all streaming platforms.

You can watch thoughts around the song on ‘Facts Only’;

 

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Foreign / Music / News

Wizkid’s ‘Essence’ set to become the first Nigerian record to hit platinum in the US

On September 21, 2021, Grammy-winning Nigerian superstar, Wizkid’s groundbreaking Billboard Hot 100 hit, ‘Essence’ was rumored to have hit one million in sales equivalent.

This news was broken by the reliable Chart Data. This comes barely two weeks after the record was certified Gold in the US, becoming Wizkid’s second Gold record after ‘Come Closer’ featuring Drake. With this milestone, ‘Essence’ becomes the first Nigerian song to go platinum in the US.

After it fell last week, ‘Essence’ is back to No. 17 on the charts. Recently, Nigeria’s premier music chart publication, Turntable Charts also reported that ‘Essence’ has been the third biggest Nigerian song of 2021, so far.

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Music / News

Wizkid’s ‘Essence’ hits one million on Shazam, jumps to No. 59 on Hot 100

On August 6, 2021, Nigerian superstar, Wizkid’s smash hit, ‘Essence’ hit one million uses on Shazam.

The song, which currently sits pretty at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 accumulated one million searches via the Apple-owned Shazam. In 2020, Master KG‘s ‘Jerusalema’ became the most Shazamed song in the world.

On July 31, 2021, ‘Essence’ also cracked the US iTunes top 50 chart.

A few weeks ago, the song cracked the top 50, which heralded is rise into the Billboard Hot 100. In 2020, Mr. Eazi‘s ‘Oh My God’ featuring Nicki Minaj topped the US iTunes chart within 24 hours of release.

On July 30, 2021, the song also rose to No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

On July 20, 2021, the song rose to No. 72. This comes after the song which features another Nigerian singer Tems cracked the Billboard Bubbling Under Charts for the first time.

This marks a remarkable achievement for Wizkid and Tems, who are signed to the same label and for African music as a whole.

However, this isn’t Wizkid’s first time on the Hot 100 chart.

He got into the chart via his features on Drake’s ‘One Dance’ which hit No. 1 in 2016 and Beyonce’s ‘Brown Skin Girl’ which peaked at #76 in 2019.

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Entertainment

Drake Wins “Artist Of The Decade” at the 2021 Billboard Awards

On Sunday night (May 23), Drake accepted Billboard‘s Artist of the Decade Award at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. 

Honored at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, Drake’s OVO team, along with his parents, presented him with the prestigious award. His manager, Future the Prince, had glowing praise for the self-proclaimed 6 God, labeling him as “the most kind, selfless, generous person we know.”

After viewers watched a montage highlighting his lofty achievements, Drake sauntered onstage with his son Adonis by his side. He presented him the award and then humbly discussed his journey to greatness.

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