“Starboy call me number 1..”. we all know this line and the lines that precede it, what is becoming hard to explain is how for some reason some people are now seeing Wizkid as number one in the history of Afrobeat.
Since his successful concert at the Royal Albert Hall on the 29th of September, fans of Wizkid have for whatever reason crowned him the King of Afrobeat, with some fans on Twitter comparing him to the likes of 2Baba and even saying he is not comparable to any artiste. We’ve all got our different opinions and that is fine, but one opinion that I disagree with is the one that compares Wizkid to Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The thought of such comparison is a disrespect to everything the Fela brand stands for and should not be done.
Now, let’s start with the basics, these legendary artistes, Fela, Tuface, Wizkid all operated in different time periods. This basic fact alone foils any attempt to compare them, but fans sometimes do not draw limit, so let’s go on.
1. Fela Composed Songs, Wizkid Does NOT Compose: Fela Anikulapo Kuti was an avid composer of great hits. He originated the genre we all love today called Afrobeat and his contributions into this genre can never be overemphasized. Fela did not just write his songs (lyrics and melodies), he also arranged, composed and produced all his music and then went on to play the music he compoased using several instruments from the trumpet, saxophone, keyboard, guitars and drums; he was known as a multi-instrumentalist.
Should we also talk about his skill as a music conductor while directing his band and singers to deliver their best performance on every LIVE performance? Who produced Fela’s songs? Fela himself. Baba was the music composer, singer, producer, writer, conductor and more to all his songs, songs that lasted for nothing less than seven minutes long! Now in this space, I do not see a Wizkid presence because our superstar boy isn’t doing any of such other than writing lyrics and melodies.
2. The Times & Competition: Another thing to consider is the level of competition in their various times. Fela and 2Baba were not faced with as much competition as Wizkid presently is, hence they were not singing constantly to stay relevant. In as much as they all wanted to make the money, they were singing because they had/have something to say and fortunately for them, they had music to say these things as skilfully as they knew how to will fetch them more money… very fortunately for them, I must say. On the other hand, Wizkid has the likes of Davido, Olamide and other young artistes we can consider his contemporaries and for that reason, he has to keep pushing his name and his music to keep the spotlight on him and we would agree that this competition has helped Wizkid a lot.
3. Opportunities Available: Let’s understand the time Wizkid is operating in; the 2000s. Wizkid is presently operating at a time where Afrobeat is getting all the attention of the world, at a time where every international artiste understands the goldmine in Africa, especially Nigeria and also understands that collaborating with a good Nigerian artiste is a big win for them, hence the path has been paved clear, but the question is who paved that path? who introduced Nigerian music to the world, who gave afrobeat a global appeal? who changed the game and opened the eyes of the young ones to see that the game can even be changed in the first place? It is funny how we are now comparing the way makers who did the work to the people they paved the way for… it’s like One Corner, it doesn’t make sense.
This is not to say Wizkid got his fame on a platter, of course not! The young man from Ojuelegba paid his dues, but his dues were no longer as much because some people already paid a greater part of it. Because at the end of the day, the dream is to take Afrobeat to the world and one person cannot do it, and for that reason, Wizkid is taking off where these legends stopped, there is no need for competition.
4. Fela Had A Cause: We have to understand that the likes of Fela and 2Baba did not release songs to stay relevant, but because they had/have something to say. Fela didn’t have that much of a beautiful voice, but we all know he wasn’t judged by it either and his voice was perfect for the message he passed. His messages made him a prophet of his time and he expressed these messages through music and instrument.
Fela is not being respected because of the number of songs he sang, tours he made, countries he visited, or the audience that graced his shows, amounting Fela to that is an insult to a memory painstaking created and fought for. Fela is being respected all over the world because of the message he passed with his music, so maybe we should try to compare Wizkid with messages and see how well we would fail in this attempt.
This also can be said for 2baba who sings against social justice and sometimes can be a bit political with his music, but that cannot be said for Wizkid.
Now, we are not saying Wizkid should go all political or become an activist with his music, we are only sayingg he cannot be compared to the likes of Fela who demonstrated thei activism with their music and despite all the trails he faced, he kept on eith it, an attitude that made him a force to reckon with in the world.
Wizkid has a beautiful voice, wonderful stage performance, feel-good music too and a hard worker that has taken himself from Ojuelegba to the world, but let us be sincere, some people’s love for Wizkid is more about what he represents, how hard working he is rather than what he stands for or has done for his country, Nigeria. We love his personal success that reflects positively on Nigeria and Africa. We appreciate his hard work and how his life shows every young African that there is no shortcut to success even at this time of shortcuts and we are happy that he promotes Africa with his music. But when we want to compare someone with Wizkid where music is concerned, where personality is concerned, please let’s not call Fela because that’s an insult to everything he represents neither should we call 2Baba because he doesn’t operate on the same level with our Starboy. These fans, love your favorite artiste but don’t insult others while you do it.
So I say it again, comparing Wizkid to Fela is a dumb idea because while Wizkid did make history on the 30th of September at the Royal Albert Hall, Fela IS THE HISTORY that walked the earth, the HISTORY we have no choice but to continue celebrating!
