Nov. 06 (THEWILL) — Afrobeats singer Ayodeji Balogun aka Wizkid says music was his escape from street life and crime.
The music star, in a recent interview, opened up about his early days and coming of age in the music industry.
He revealed that he could have gone into a life of crime if not for the music.
“Music was more than a hobby to me, more than a talent. It was my escape. I was in the hood. It was either music or turned into a crime. That’s why I don’t mess with the music,” Wizkid said.
“My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor. It was a very difficult conversation to have when I said I wanted to do music.
“I just had to prove myself to them. They always look at me and think, ‘Aha, that boy!’ How many years did it take me!”
“I am a very spiritual human being. I know I do a lot of club records but I really feel like a pastor,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, it was in church that he discovered his love of music – hymns taught him “how to feel”, he says.
He was the youngest of 11 children, raised by a Christian mother and a polygamous Muslim father, who had three wives. As his mother’s only son, he grew up in a chaotic but fun, female-dominated household in Surulere, Lagos.
He and his cousins were altar boys at his grandfather’s Pentecostal church. He recorded his very first song over 20 years ago as part of a band with his church friends, Glorious Five.
Even back then, he was trying to make a name for himself as a rapper and was soon taken under the wing of producer, the late OJB Jezreel.
He observed Wizkid shadowing sessions with Afrobeats artists who were dominating the emerging scene. When he skipped school to go to the studio, his older sisters covered for him.
Wizkid, speaking on the theme of his upcoming album, talked about dealing with fame and mastering the ego.
“I consider the Wizkid brand a million dollar business, man. It’s a business, not me. As I get older, I wish people would get 100% Wiz Ayo Balogun. Giving people a person, the real me in my real form.
“Most of the time I don’t want cameras in my face. But I understand why I have to do it. It’s one of the things I’m still fighting against. I just want to live a normal life.
On fatherhood, he added: “Now I pay more attention to what I put in my songs. Because my children listen to my songs.
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