wizkid • made in lagos (2020)

"essence" (remix) is #17 on the hot 100, my god

i haven't heard the bieber version yet, the rap stations here play the original and the pop station hasn't started playing it. one of my friends at w*rk is a big bieber fan so when this came on off her playlist i was sure it'd be the biebs version but nope! the original is outselling/-streaming the remix now it seems so i guess billboard is crediting it like that b/c of the initial boost + that's presumably what the pop stations would play

recorded stream of his third night playing the O2... he comes on about an hour or so in. just super fun to see a full arena rocking to his music, but he's also got a fuller band than when he was touring in the US, i think. a lot of the songs sound great esp w/ the back up singers. he also brings out most of the guests on the album... i highly recommend finding the spot in the show where burna boy comes out in a full rodeo outfit w/ cowboy hat and cowboy boots, their energy together is really funny. also tems! not sure if she came out at the other london shows but i wouldn't be surprised if it was the first time they performed the song together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBBv-JT0-gE

also wiz says he & burna have a new song together, video already shot. seems like it's coming out fairly soon. appears to be called "ballon d'or," looks like it's a burna song w/ wiz feature but i guess we'll see

supposed to see him in January, hoping omicron won't mess up his plans

he does a great version of "blessed" at like 1:53:00... he pulled out a lot of tricks for this show that he didn't on his US tour (understandably)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OJ_5aS-PdM

Ten minutes of aesthetics, top fashion and indulgence featuring the songs from Made in Lagos deluxe.

deep cut / fan favorite “True Love” gets an official video release:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RstK5waga3o

video does the song no favors at all. the absence of Tay Iwar makes this a rather weird, even uncomfortable, watch

was always my favorite on this album

wiz kid is dead! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaaqj9EQ6h8

jesus. go away

Made in Tappahannock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syItp7nKTik
“Call Me Every Day”

Killer tune. CB should just go make a full afropop album.

hadn’t listened to the new tracks on the Deluxe in a while. that is one hell of an EP - the old-fashioned 4-track kind, that is.

(…)

oops, checked the thread and “Anoti” (peak P.Priime, that slippery busy bassline!) and “Steady” (my favourite, loverboy Wizzy, a continuation of SoundMan’s highlight “Electric”) weren’t even mentioned on here. “Mood” with tafkaBuju is a great repurposing of the eternal “Don’t Dull” beat for the Made in Lagos era.

FYI “Don’t Dull” is another one of my Wizkid nominations for the 2010s Poll. Don’t dull and waste your vote!

Or vote for Superstar as the school-days teenage album of untrained genius and fresh fun that it is. The cheap production is fantastic. Essence of early afrobeats charm.

new single (presumably the first from his new album) is out next wednesday

“Bad To Me” is out, it’s a P2J production. log drum and post-Asake group-chanted chorus notwithstanding, it’s very old-school Wizzy (I’m thinking “Bombay” era, but of course there’s also the “This Kind Luv” self-rip).
it’s a fool’s game to rate a Wizkid track on the first day, but it’s probably safe to say it won’t be among his classics. that riff growing out of that guitar lick in the intro is super positively nagging tho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw3e6mRWLHY

i think i like this more than you, but i don't like it more than "majo" from the dj tunez ep

lol to clarify: “super positively nagging” was my clumsy wag of saying that it’s nagging in a very good way

*wag => way

ah yes. i love that little guitar line, especially when it comes back at the end of the song

listening to this on headphones now and it’s zooming up in my estimation already - I love it when a plan gels together

His voice is on point but that track is all over the place, shame, and I don't like the chorus.

It’s very asake

Rolling Stone weighing in:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/wizkid-bad-to-me-1234592255/

Good maybe not great song, though it also took me two listens to fully hear it; the hitch for me was his lower register, which sounded strange to me at first. I also recall the early singles from MiL being slightly underwhelming, or at least "Smile" wasn't v well received around here pre-album.

I get the Asake ref. Yet it doesn't really sound much like him, specifically, in the rest of the singing or production. Obviously choral chanting is a hot trend but I mean...Fela also had backing choruses, and I think something breastcrawl posted mentioned fuji or juju antecedents, and Asake himself cited gospel. Full credit for making it such a phenom in 2022, absolutely, but it's not like Asake invented the idea.

re: that RS piece, "Soweto Baby" was 7 years ago! Obvs that's not amapiano but clearly Wizkid pays attention to SA

The amapianthem now has a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mkhevOXVNk

…which includes (apart from more exquisite wardrobe samples) five seconds of another, presumably soon to be released, new track.

…which sounds pre-tty gooood.

…which goes without saying.

I’ve come around on this slinky little tune btw, but it’s hardly the most exciting thing out. Wizkid’s usually one step ahead of the competition.

agreed

i think most artists these days aren't coming out of the gate w/ their best single. they're prob considering this one the "teaser" or w/e

he allegedly performed the new album in full in london last month for an apple event but i don't see any write ups or anything about it

missed that, but here’s a report:

https://www.bellanaija.com/2022/09/wizkid-album-preview-london/

Wizkid performed his new album “More Love Less Ego” live with the Apple Music in UK last Tuesday night 💿🇬🇧

It’s now confirmed that Big Wiz unreleased album will features; TravisScott, RoddyRicch, Don Toliver, AyraStar, NairaMarley, Buju Banton & Ty Dolla $ 🎤🦅 pic.twitter.com/DfbpZZ9kID

— World Music Republic (@WMREPUBLIC) September 28, 2022

roddy and don toliver are pretty good picks stylistically

at least no Ed Sheeran

When Ty Dolla is on, he’s on. And on paper, at least, the two should be a good match. But this definitely smells of Sounds from the other side 2, in which case… oh well.

But this definitely smells of Sounds from the other side 2, in which case… oh well.

― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Wednesday, October 19, 2022 3:04 PM (twelve seconds ago)

i mean, the songwriting could just end up being a lot better

That is what I’m hoping. On the other hand, there’s also Twice as Tall.

the two tracks he did with T$ on SftOS are among the biggest duds of his career. they are besties tho, so…

there’s also Twice as Tall.

― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Wednesday, October 19, 2022 3:06 PM (four minutes ago)

there's also african giant!

I think we can all agree Wizkid (and Afropop in general) is past that stage, where it be African Giant or Twice As Tall. we’re in an era where Asake can crack the Billboard album charts with some Yoruba shit.

*whether it be

I assumed longneck was thinking AG : TaT :: MiL : MLLE
it's a bit premature for these worries though, no?

Asake is notably free from ill-fitting crossover features, which hopefully bodes well for the future

Made in Lagos would be the equivalent of African Giant in my analogy… I’m just saying these blatant crossover attempts rarely work very well. If he has made a pure afro’n’b album, however, I’d say there’s a chance he might pull it off.

(oh wait I forgot about Russ on the Asake)

I think we can all agree Wizkid (and Afropop in general) is past that stage, where it be African Giant or Twice As Tall. we’re in an era where Asake can crack the Billboard album charts with some Yoruba shit.

― big movers, hot steppers + long shaker intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, October 19, 2022 3:16 PM (three minutes ago)

not that artists at this stature are ever divorced from commercial concerns but i would think of it less as "we need to work w/ these artists in order to crossover" and more "i want to work w/ these artist because i like them and it would be fun"

Yeah that’s my point. If Wizkid plays the Twice as Tall game he’ll surely miss. If he’s mainly aiming for an African audience - like Asake - he could actually cross over big time. I think.