“Wizkid Is My Senior in the Music Industry” — Olamide Clears the Air on Career Timeline

Nigerian rapper and YBNL chief, Olamide, has clarified long-held assumptions about his music career timeline compared to Afrobeats superstar Wizkid. Speaking during a recent conversation with streamer Azeeez, he explained that Wizkid started making music professionally before him, a detail many fans often overlook.

Olamide noted that the public generally assumes both artists began their careers at the same time because they rose to national prominence around the early 2010s. However, according to him, Wizkid had already taken early steps into the music industry at least a year or two before he emerged. He emphasized that the clarification was not an attempt to elevate one artist over the other but simply to correct a recurring misconception. Eyes Of Lagos reports,

Music records support Olamide’s claim, including Wizkid’s appearance on rapper M.I Abaga’s 2008 track “Fast Money/Fast Cars.” Although the feature came before Wizkid’s mainstream breakthrough, it signified his early entry into the professional music scene and helped shape his journey to becoming a global Afrobeats figure.

Olamide, on his part, built a formidable path in the rap and street-pop genres, earning acclaim for his consistency, influence, and commitment to spotlighting indigenous sounds. Both artists went on to define their respective spaces in Nigerian music while maintaining massive fan bases.

The confusion around their timelines is largely tied to their breakout releases. Wizkid’s “Holla at Your Boy,” which debuted in January 2010, propelled him to stardom, while Olamide’s “Eni Duro” followed within the same period. Their rise was further interlinked when both were nominated for the 2011 Headies Awards’ Next Rated category, an award eventually won by Wizkid.

Olamide stressed during the interview that his remarks were meant to provide clarity, not fuel debates. He reiterated that Wizkid began releasing music before his own arrival on the scene and deserves full acknowledgment for that early start. His comments aim to put an end to persistent debates among fans over who entered the industry first.

Despite the public comparisons that have followed them for more than a decade, both artists remain widely respected figures whose contributions continue to shape the direction of contemporary Nigerian music.