Entertainment
Wizkid concert review: Starboy shone a bright light on Nigeria’s star power at London’s O2 Arena
Wizkid celebrated his masterpiece Made In Lagos with us at London’s O2 Arena (Picture: WireImage)
For many of us, Wizkid has provided the soundtrack to our year and the song of our summer, so to finally see him live on stage at London’s O2 Arena in the most successful era of his career yet was as big a release as being freed from lockdown.
After all, his masterpiece, Made In Lagos, released in October 2020, did keep us going during those lockdown days, giving us a bit of sun in a period of uncertainty.
Starboy’s own moment in the sun – in this case the O2 Arena stage – was as glorious as we’d imagined it to be.
The hype surrounding Wizkid’s three dates at the iconic venue was so great that tickets for the first show made history after selling out in 12 minutes. That’s enough pressure for anyone to live up to but Wizkid’s confidence is bold enough to make it seem like he’s done this 10 times already.
Hailing from Lagos, Nigeria, the musician has become one of those artists whose songs are so mighty they quite literally speak for themselves. Just the opening notes alone of Mighty Wine was enough to plunge the arena into a dreamy haze, all swaying in unison to the delicate tropical notes, while No Stress and True Love effortlessly draw the audience into a singalong.
Made In Lagos is a stunning melting pot of sounds from Afrobeats to jazz, reggae and soul and so my fear was that the nuances of the genres, some of the more gentle songs, and even Wizkid’s tender vocals, would get lost in the big space of the O2 Arena.
At one point before he hit the stage, I did wonder if Made In Lagos would translate better in more of an intimate space. Fortunately my fleeting fears were quickly dispelled with the majority of songs sounding revived in live form, and only a couple occasionally getting drowned out by the crowd’s singing and live band.
The singer proved why Nigeria deserves to be on the music map (Picture: Rex Features)
Chris Brown made a surprise appearance (Picture: WireImage)
Ella Mai joined Wizkid for their song Piece Of Me (Picture: WireImage)
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the evening was Starboy’s medley of throwback classics, ranging from the very early Pakurumo to his former summer banger Come Closer (no, sadly Drake didn’t surprise us with an appearance).
This is where the impact of Wizkid’s catalogue on the diaspora was stunning to witness. Whether the audience sang with their hearts in Yoruba or related to the struggles mentioned in Ojuelegba or remembered the first time they heard Tease Me, the medley representing where Wizkid started before his current Essence wave was the energy that was clearly needed.
Speaking of, Wizkid received support from special guests including Skepta, Chris Brown and Ella Mai but they were by no means void-fillers as the Afrobeats star did a pretty stellar job in his own merit.
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Perhaps the only thing that felt absent was Wizkid’s personal interaction with the audience, speaking very little about the songs themselves but, then again, as previously highlighted, his music speaks volumes enough.
The most poignant moment of the night was his emotional tribute to Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director whose sudden death was announced just two hours before he hit the stage, the weight of the devastating news evident in Wizkid’s face as he held back tears.
Admittedly, it felt hard to emerge from the sadness which that moment brought us, but Wizkid naturally eased us out with the breezy Smile before delivering the crescendo we’d all been waiting for.
Essence has become a force of its own, even transcending Wizkid’s own star power to some extent. The entire arena belting out Tems’ verse passionately before the woman herself joined us to claim her glory quite humorously felt like she was stepping into our party and not the other way around. The love for Tems enveloped the singer like a glove and it’s clear she’s set for a stunning 2022.
More: London
Wizkid had an incredibly strong start to his three-night O2 residency, the self-proclaimed Starboy beautifully showing why Nigeria deserves its place on the music map.
It’s about time.
Wizkid returns to London’s O2 Arena on November 29 and December 1.
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