Opinion: Why Wizkid is not a legend yet

Editor’s note: There has been several arguments as to whether popular musician Wizkid could be called a legend. Writer Tobiloba Oluwatoyin writes on why he hasn’t attained legendary status yet. First let me put this disclaimer out, “I’m not hating, Wizkid is a star”. With that said let me burst your bubble, your favorite artiste, Wizkid, is not a legend and there are numerous reasons why. Chill, we will get to it in time so far you don’t send me a series of tweets before you finish reading this. Starboy has done some amazing things over the past year and it has been extraordinary, in fact there is no other Nigerian artiste close to him presently. He has songs with artistes that most Nigerian artistes only see through the television. He has trailed a path that those before him have gone and found little success.

First, to be regarded as a legend you need to have been consistent for a long time. Even in his rather short career, Wizkid was not consistent every single year even though he had songs that spilled over from the previous year (a major example is Ojuelegba, a song on his AYO album (released 17 September, 2014) which became even bigger in 2015 and beyond. There were years he sacrificed for his foreign ambition, years Davido and Olamide took advantage of and ran riot. Although credit needs to be given to Wizkid for keeping his fanbase salivating for his sound as he continued to drop at least a song each year. Secondly, what will Wizkid be remembered for if he decides to retire now? He isn’t a pioneer, other artistes have been there done that. He is not a revolutionary; in fact Wande Coal is the trailblazer of the “New Sound” as we know it. Finally, it is rather too soon to regard Wizkid as a legend just because he broke into the American industry. There are other artistes that have the record deal Wizkid has with RCA, and having your album on the Billboard charts is not a legendary trait. In 2014, Reminisce was featured by TIME Magazine as one of the world rappers you should meet (he was the only rapper out of Africa), does that mean Reminisce should be regarded as a legend now? Wizkid (Image courtesy Instagram) Don’t get it twisted, Wizkid is a star and he obviously wants to achieve lots more. However, regarding him as a legend is simply premature. He hasn’t done something extraordinary, he doesn’t have a movement that is revolutionary, he is not influencing the youth into doing something extraordinary. He is simply living the dream every kid round the block would wish to have and quite frankly there is nothing special about that.