Is Wizkid Losing His Grip on Afrobeats?

For over a decade, Wizkid has been one of the biggest names in Nigerian pop music. From his early days with Holla at Your Boy to his international success with Ojuelegba and Essence, he helped shape the sound of Afrobeats and took it global. He has worked with some of the biggest artists in the world — Drake, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber. In 2021, he sold out the O2 Arena in London three nights in a row, making him the first African artist to do so. He has won many awards, topped charts across the world, and built a loyal fanbase that follows him everywhere.

But recently, things haven’t been going so well.

In November 2024, Wizkid released his sixth album Morayo. Many fans were excited because his last album, More Love Less Ego, didn’t do so well. Morayo felt different. It got a lot of praise, both in Nigeria and abroad. People said it brought back the “old Wizkid” they missed. In the first week, he broke streaming records in Nigeria, and his name was everywhere on music charts.

But things changed quickly. Just a few months later, the excitement around Morayo dropped. On Turntable’s chart, Wizkid went from number one with over 1200 points to number 12 with just about 118 points. That’s a huge drop. His songs also fell on streaming charts. The most popular one, “Kese,” was at number 36, and the next closest, “Bad Girl” featuring Asake, was at number 57. Even though he still gets about a million streams daily on Spotify, most of those listeners are outside Nigeria.

Things got worse in May when news came out that Wizkid had cancelled several dates on his Morayo tour. Many fans were surprised. Some were sad. But others mocked him online. On social media, people made jokes saying “Wizkid” now means “to cancel.” One viral tweet said, “Even when I switched from pencil to biro in primary 3, I didn’t cancel as much as Wizkid.”

These jokes may seem funny, but they point to a bigger problem. This is the same Wizkid who once sold out shows in minutes. Now, he’s cancelling shows in cities like Atlanta because not enough people are buying tickets. Some people blame the economy. They say people don’t have the money to attend concerts anymore. But this doesn’t explain everything. Rema just sold out Madison Square Garden in New York. Burna Boy sold out a stadium in France. Other Nigerian artists are still doing big shows. So why not Wizkid?

One reason could be how he promotes his music. When Morayo was coming, Wizkid tried to get attention by posting strange tweets and shading other artists like Davido and Don Jazzy. It got people talking, but after the album dropped, he went quiet. No interviews. No media runs. The music was good, but he didn’t do much to keep the buzz going. Even the video for “Kese” came months later, when people had already moved on.

These days, even the biggest artists know they need to promote their work. Drake, who doesn’t like doing interviews, still appears on podcasts or uses creative ways to promote his albums. Newer artists like Doechii and Rema also flood the internet with content. That’s what works now.

So, the real question is: why isn’t Wizkid doing the same? He has two managers — Jada Pollock and Sunday Are. They’ve helped him for years. But now, it looks like they’re tired. In an old interview, Sunday Are even said he wanted to retire, but Wizkid asked him to stay. Maybe it’s time for new energy on his team.

In today’s world, just dropping good music is not enough. You need to stay in people’s faces. Be on their screens. Be in conversations. Wizkid still has a strong fanbase. He still makes good music. But if he and his team don’t change how they operate, he might lose the spotlight for real.

The big question now is: does Wizkid still want to be at the top? Or is he slowly stepping away from the game?