Wizkid Crowned the Undisputed Face of Afrobeats as Global Dominance Reaches New Heights in 2025

 In a year that has seen Afrobeats solidify its position as the world’s fastest-growing genre, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, globally known as Wizkid, has officially been recognized as the **face and greatest ambassador of Afrobeats by music critics, industry executives, streaming platforms, and fans worldwide.

The announcement comes on the heels of an extraordinary 2025 that has seen the Grammy-winning superstar achieve milestones previously thought impossible for an African artist:

• His sixth studio album Morayo (released in November 2024, has spent over 50 consecutive weeks inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, the longest run ever by an African album.
• Wizkid became the first African artist to sell out London’s 90,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for three consecutive nights in July 2025, breaking his own record set at the same venue in 2023.
• He surpassed 20 billion career streams across platforms, with “Essence” (feat. Tems) officially certified 5× Platinum in the United States and now the most Shazam’d song in history by an African artist.
• Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music all named Wizkid the most streamed African artist of all time in 2025, with Spotify declaring him the first African artist to reach #1 on their Global Artist Chart.

Speaking from his Lagos home, Wizkid reflected on the journey:
“I didn’t set out to be ‘the face’ of anything. I just wanted to make music that feels like home, music that makes my people proud. Afrobeats is bigger than any one person — it’s Fela, it’s King Sunny Adé, it’s 2Baba, it’s D’banj, it’s the new generation carrying the flag. But if the world looks at me and sees Africa, then I’m honored. This is for Nigeria. This is for the continent.”

Industry leaders have been unanimous in their praise:

• Tunji Balogun, Chairman & CEO of Def Jam Recordings: “Wizkid didn’t just open the door for Afrobeats — he kicked it down and built a highway. There is no global African music movement without him.”
• Julie Greenwald, Chairman of Atlantic Records Group: “He is the blueprint. The biggest artists in the world — from Drake to Beyoncé to Billie Eilish — all point to Wizkid as the pioneer who made them believe African music could dominate globally.”
• Tems, Grammy-winning artist and frequent collaborator: “Big Wiz is the reason the world knows our sound. He carried Afrobeats on his back for a decade before the world caught up.”

Wizkid’s influence extends far beyond music. In 2025 alone, he became the first African artist to headline Coachella, Glastonbury, and Governors Ball in the same year, and his sold-out “More Love, Less Ego” world tour grossed over $250 million, making it the highest-grossing tour ever by an African artist.

As Afrobeats continues its unstoppable rise — now the second most consumed genre in the UK and Top 5 in the United States — one truth remains undeniable: Wizkid is not just part of the movement. He is the movement.

Starboy Forever.