The most recent cover star for 10 Magazine is Wizkid. The singer, whose highly anticipated album More Love, Less Ego was just released, took some time to speak with the publication about afrobeats music, how he feels about the claims that he included Justin Bieber on the “Essence” Remix to boost the song, and the hilarious true story of when he introduced his mother to his 40-year-old best friend when he was just 11 years old.
Wizkid was quite talkative. Let’s go into what Wizkid revealed in his most recent interview without further ado.
Speaking about Afrobeats and why he no longer listens to rap music, Wizkid said:
Afrobeats is the new pop. I sold two million copies in America off of one song! Even some American artists don’t have a diamond record. If I’m being honest, I don’t listen to any other genre of music anymore. I don’t listen to rap – that shit is boring to me. It’s dead now, it’s tired. These guys do the same shit, rap on the same beats, same flows. [People have had to] listen to the same type of music 10 years, five years straight. No disrespect to nobody. I don’t have anything against rap or any other type of music. I have a lot of rappers as friends, like a lot. So I’m probably the wrong person to say this.
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Speaking about featuring American singer Justin Bieber on the “Essence” Remix, Wizkid said:
That’s the problem – I wasn’t trying to help anything! The song was already big. When I heard [his verse], I actually liked it. It was why I put it out. That’s the thing people don’t know about me; when it’s strategic, I don’t do it. I get sent records every day from artists that I’m a fan of, [but] sometimes it doesn’t feel right. Even if you’re Michael Jackson, I don’t care – I’m not going to do it. We need to be able to see each other and be like ‘Yo, we made a crazy record!’ Not like we don’t want to talk.
Wizkid then also talked about growing up as the one son in a family of 12 children, and how his mother reacted when she met his 40 year old best friend. He said:
I was mad but I was quiet at home. You know, growing up as a man, I can’t really talk to my sisters about certain things and have certain conversations.
When I was 11 my best friend was, like, 40 [laughs]. He used to own a business down my street, and every time I’d come back from school I’d go sit with him, help him sell some stuff, chill. I’d always tell my mom about him so she told me to bring him to the house. When I brought him she saw one old man and was like, ‘What’s going on here!?’ [laughs]. Just hanging around grown people, seeing how life works, really helped me grow [up] faster.