Wizkid discusses awards, Ojuelegba and more with Fader.
While on tour in Amsterdam, Wizkid had a phone interview with Fader’s Phiona Okumu were he discussed his love for the music, awards and the single Ojuelegba.
The nominees for the U.K.’s 2015 MOBO awards—short for Music of Black Origin—have just been announced when I reach Wizkid on a crackly phone line. The Nigerian singer is nominated for Best African Act on the strength of his 2014 single “Ojuelegba” and the remix by Drake and grime golden boy Skepta that made it a worldwide street hit. But Wizkid’s recently publicized stance on award shows suggests he could take it or leave it.
“My real fans know I am not really about that kind of thing,” he explains, speaking from a hotel room in Amsterdam. “That was not the reason why I fell in love with music.” Beyond the MOBOs, he alludes to an incident in June when he snubbed the BET Awards and dragged the event on Twitter for not airing the award for Best International Act: Africa during the live broadcast. For the record, he’s previously taken home trophies from both shows.
The summer of 2015 was unusually full of collaborations between African stars and big-name U.S. rappers—the Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie teamed up with Ace Hood, and the Nigerian Afro-pop singer Davido with Meek Mill—but no song has been as wide-reaching as “Ojuelegba.” Even before Drake came near it, six months after its initial release it was simmering toward anthem status across Africa. The original is arguably even better than the remix, which omits the Dr. Dre “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” sample—just one highlight of the production by Wizkid’s longtime collaborators Legendury Beatz. “I knew it was a good song,” Wizkid says, “but I didn’t expect it to blow up the way that it did.”
Head over to Fader to read the full interview.
![Milli - Unlooking [New Song]](https://h-wing.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/unnamed-23-300x300.jpg)
