No matter what type of music he does, Starboy deserves your support

For those of you who are very hyped about Wizkid taking the ‘Nigerian sound’ to huge spaces and distant lands, you will have to grab your tissues for this one.

This would be one of the worst pieces of news that you would ever want to hear: Wizkid is not championing the African sound. He is working his way through the US market with just one gimmick: Caribbean sounds.

You should have seen this from afar. Ever since Wizkid began his international campaign, collaborating with US and UK acts, he has always found Island sounds as a great meeting point. His work on ‘Ojuelegba’ sped up that process with Drake, but that was all the ‘Afrobeat’ that he has offered on that level. Everything else has been far from Nigeria.

Take the recording of our Starboy on every song he has featured in on ‘the abroad’, and you will find that the last thing he sounds like is Nigerian. He drops Lagos for Tobago, exchanges Ojuelegba for Kingston, and where you hopefully search for Fela,you find traces of Bob Marley’s seed.

Wizkid is now Wizkyad. (I threw in patois for that one. Thank you very much.)

And his new album will be no different. The only ‘Nigerian’ song Wizkid has released since his foray into foreign markets is ‘Sweet love’, a fusion of reggae and Afrobeat, which he hasn’t made a single or dedicated any push to. It’s not his core focus now. He is singing a different language, and speaking in tongues that are not intrinsically local.

And you can’t blame him or attack him for that. Wizkid is doing what needs to be done. He is doing what he has to do.

The singer was signed to Sony Music with the aim of exporting his talent. And although he got on to their radar using local pop sounds, it is a business move for him to be the new voice of Island music.

According to Ovie, Editor of NotjustOK who have heard the forthcoming album, Wizkid takes that Caribbean influence and packs his mixtape. It is a realistic strategy, designed to serve the American market with a genre that they are familiar with, and introduce a new voice to the mainstream. It’s a dream that is bigger than the Nigerian market, and one that is crucial in his career.

Where does that leave us?

According to Wizkid, “Sounds From The Other Side” mixtape will have material from predominantly local producers. Sarz, Legendury Beatz, Spellz and a few others. Nigerians can console themselves in the fact that the singer is relying on talent from home to make this move happen for him.

And we need to show him support. Music purists who are obsessed over ‘Africa to the world’ will have a hard time accepting that Wizkid took what is a sound business decision. But they will have to show support. This is the point where they have to overlook the sound and find pride in his person, and what he represents. He is a Nigerian, who is breaking barriers. It’s enough reason to join the rally and scream “Team Wizkid.”

So cry all you want, scream about the betrayal of Afrobeat by Wizkid. But when you are done, there will still be a Caribbean-influenced “Sounds From The Other Side” mixtape by Starboy, and you have to support it.

Here's some tissue for your tears. You’re welcome.