Before Wizkid bounds onto the stage, a DJ highlights the significance of this moment. “Tonight is a celebration for Africa!” he shouts into the mic. “African music has come a long way.” He’s not wrong. These days, no music chart worth its salt is without a touch of afrobeats, something that was mostly unheard of 10 years ago.
Wizkid is undeniably one of the reasons for the genre’s mainstream appeal. With five studio albums under his belt, countless guest appearances with international stars and legions of hardcore fans across the diaspora, he is considered a pioneer who continues to pick up new fans with each release. After three sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena in 2021, Wizkid graduates to stadium level tonight, and it feels like a long time coming.
Fittingly, the mood is one of a massive party, with tens of thousands of fans packed into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and feverish for him to appear. By the time Wizkid comes onto the stage, 50 minutes later than billed, the stadium is a galaxy of phone lights, the sun long set. “Ojuelegba”, a 2014 hit, asks “are you feeling good tonight?” And despite the long wait, the answer is a loud, resolute “Yes!”. The star is flanked by eight female dancers dressed in white cargo pants and crop tops, body rolling and whipping their hair in perfect time with his sexy mid-tempo beats.
Wizkid sings and raps in a hybrid of English and Yoruba – whether or not you can catch the words fully, the fusion of sharp percussion and smooth saxophone creates a vibe that is as appropriate for the many couples smooching in the crowd as it is for the friends grinding hips side by side. Though there seems to be a reliance on a vocal track, Wizkid’s stage presence keeps the crowd energised.
Despite having released his first album in 2011, Wizkid launched into certified superstardom nearly a decade later with 2020’s Made in Lagos. You can feel the surge of energy when he performs those tracks, including bops “Ginger” and “Mood”.
After the seductive “True Love”, Wizkid teases a surprise before disappearing from the stage. A mysterious low rumble vibrates through the stadium, priming the audience for the singer’s return with something spectacular in store. Could it be a special guest? Perhaps Burna Boy, a fellow gem of the genre? Or Tottenham-born MC Skepta, with whom Wizkid has collaborated on several tracks? Maybe even Drake, for a performance of their 2017 summer smash “Come Closer”?
A frequent guest and host for other artists, Wizkid has a near-endless Rolodex to dial up for potential company on stage. So when he re-emerges alone, only having swapped his red outfit for a white number, it is an unfortunate anticlimax.
Much to the delight of his long-time followers, this final act of the show is reserved for some of his older tracks. He barely needs to do any vocal work for 2011’s “Don’t Dull” and “That’s My Baby” because his fans take care of that for him. As satisfying as it is to get a display of Wizkid’s sounds through the ages, it’s hard to ignore the lack of significant stage action to accompany the music. The LED background displays dancing flames, while Wizkid and his dancers only make occasional use of the higher platform. For a stadium performance, there simply needs to be more to look at.
As the clock creeps ever closer to curfew time, he launches into “Essence”, the huge hit that in 2021 became the first Nigerian song to ever chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It may be Wizkid’s track but it’s Tems and her buttery featured vocals that are the main event. In the singer-songwriter’s absence, the crowd sing along to her recorded voice, while fireworks shoot out from the stadium’s open roof.
It’s a perfect moment to end on. Curiously, though, Wizkid chooses to plough ahead with the party track “Joro”, once again deploying the fireworks for extra dazzle. “I f***ing love you tonight, London,” he says. And as much as London loves him right back, it’s an awkward and very sudden conclusion to the evening. You can’t help but think he would’ve served himself better by actually arriving on time.
