Ibrahim Ayodeji Balogun, better known as Wizkid, dropped his Made in Lagos album in 2020 after several delays and postponement. Made in Lagos is the fourth studio album by Nigerian superstar . It was released on October 30, 2020, by Starboy Entertainment and RCA Records. It features guest appearances from British artists Skepta and Ella Mai, American R&B singer H.E.R., Jamaican artists Projexx and Damian Marley, and Nigerian artists Burna Boy, Tems, Tay Iwar and Terri.
Made in Lagos received generally favorable reviews for its cohesive themes, particularly ruling out the flaws on Wizkid’s previous works, Sounds from the Other Side and Soundman Vol. 1. On Made in Lagos he promotes culture and globalisation, with the album also containing themes of love, focus, goodwill, gratitude and grace. He implements the use of live instrumentation on Made in Lagos and explores a range of genres.
During 2020, Wizkid released a collaboration with American singer, H.E.R., titled “Smile”. On September 17, he released the single “No Stress”, and announced that he would release Made in Lagos on October 15. The album launch was later postponed until October 30 due to the Nigerian End SARS protests nationwide.
Seven months after the release of the album, Made in Lagos, is still topping charts around the world, cutting across all the continents. The album has seven songs in the top 20 UK Afrobeats charts, with Ginger, Essence, No Stress, Longtime, Smile, True Love and Mighty Wine all making entries in the UK Afrobeats charts immediately after the album was released in October of 2020, and the tracks remained in the chart ever since the release of the album. Made in Lagos is also, the longest charting album from Africa, on the UK Afrobeats charts.
Another great Mile stone was reached today, 9th of June 2021, as one of the tracks in the Made in Lagos album, Essence, was chosen as one the best song of the year 2021, by Billboard. In the track, Essence, the Nigerian superstar, Wizkid, featured fast rising and beautiful Nigerian singer, Tems on the song. Essence, is arguably the best song in Wizkid’s fourth studio album, and the song definitely deserves to be to be mentioned as one of the best songs of the 2021 so far.
It debuted at no. 15 on the UK Albums Chart with over 4,100 album-equivalent units and no. 80 on the US Billboard 200 with over 10,000 album-equivalent units. Ginger became the only charting single off the album in the first week of release, peaking at no. 67 on the UK Singles Chart. This chart entry made Wizkid the first Nigerian artist with two UK Singles’ entries from two albums. ‘Ginger’ became the first number one song on the newly launched Turn Table Top 50 chart, the first in Nigeria.
Within one week of release, Made in Lagos broke several African streaming records. It became the first African album to debut on the Spotify Global Album chart, and within the top ten at that. The album surpassed 100 million streams across five platforms nine days after release, a huge milestone for an Afro-pop artist.
More than half a year later, Made in Lagos album track, ESSENCE, is the biggest song of the summer and of the album. It slaps very hard when you listen to the song.
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