I made Wizkid global, helped build Afrobeats industry – Akon

Senegalese-American music star Akon has stirred conversation with his latest revelation that he played a foundational role in the international success of Nigerian Afrobeats star, Wizkid.

Speaking on the Bagfuel Brigade podcast, Akon stated that he signed Wizkid to his record label in 2008, at a time when the singer was still a local star in Nigeria.

He also said his influence helped elevate Afrobeats to global recognition by introducing business structures that were missing in the industry at the time.

“In 2008, I spent my time in Nigeria developing what you see today as Afrobeats. And all of them can attest to it,” Akon said. “Wizkid was the first [Nigerian] artist we signed officially at that time. He was just a local Nigerian star before we touched him and it opened up to a bigger market.”

He also mentioned signing other Nigerian acts like P-Square, whom he credited as the first Nigerian group to break into the international scene.

Akon further emphasized, “I wouldn’t want to take credit for all of it but I can tell you that if we didn’t do what we did, Afrobeats would still have been in the same position it was when we got there [Nigeria in 2008].”

According to him, one of his major contributions was bringing the business mindset into the Afrobeats movement. “I brought the business side of music to Afrobeats because all they [Nigerian artists at that time] knew about was the creative. There was no business, no infrastructure, none of it attached to it.”