Wizkid

Rolling Loud Is Going To Toronto With Dave, Future, And Wizkid Headlining

by
future rolling loud
Getty Image

Rolling Loud, the traveling rap festival with roots in Miami and branches in Los Angeles, New York, and Portugal, has set its sights on Toronto. The Great White North’s upcoming iteration of Rolling Loud is booked for the weekend of September 9-11 at Ontario Place with headliners Dave, Future, and Wizkid. This marks the first time the festival will be headlined by mostly international artists (not including its Portugal events, where technically all the Americans were the imports), with Dave representing the UK (y’know, England) and Wizkid bringing Nigerian flair.

Further down the bill, fans will recognize some familiar names, including Rolling Loud mainstays like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Central Cee, Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, Nav, Rae Sremmurd, Roddy Ricch, Ski Mask The Slump God, and $NOT, while the new international outlook includes upstarts like AJ Tracey, Baka Not Nice, Haviah Mighty, Pressa, Rema, and Smiley.

Tickets for the festival go on sale this Friday, April 29, with the presale beginning Wednesday, April 27, with American Express cardholders getting their own presale on Thursday. For more info, you can check out the official Rolling Loud website: RollingLoud.com/toronto

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Wizkid Dances The Night Away With Winnie Harlow In His Intimate Video For ‘True Love’

by

This past October marked one year since Wizkid released his fourth album Made In Lagos. While the world was barred from enjoying the project in an outdoor setting, which tends to be appropriate for an afrobeats project, Made In Lagos grew to be Wizkid’s most popular release yet. It was spearheaded by the success of “Essence,” which features Tems and became a song of the summer entry in 2021 as it was later remixed by Justin Bieber. Despite bit being a bit removed from the release of Made In Lagos, Wizkid is back with a new music video for a fan favorite from the project.

At long last, Wizkid shares the video for “True Love,” which features Tay Iwar and Projexx. The new visual includes an appearance from Jamaican-Canadian model and vitiligo awareness spokeswoman Winnie Harlow. In it, Wizkid takes center stage in a gladiator-like stadium as a group of women dance around him. Soon, Harlow joins him and they intimately dance and cozy up beside each other for the remainder of the visual.

Wizkid released the video for “True Love” a few months after landing a pair of nominations for the upcoming Grammy awards. He was selected in the Best Global Music category with Made In Lagos and the Best Global Music Performance category with “Essence.”

You can watch the video for “True Love” above.

The Inaugural ‘Billboard’ Afrobeats Chart Is Dominated By Justin Bieber And Ed Sheeran

by
Justin Bieber Ed Sheeran Ed Sheeran Jumpers For Goalposts Premiere 2015
Getty Image

Last week, Billboard announced they were partnering with Afro Nation on the new US Afrobeats Songs chart, which “ranks the 50 most popular Afrobeats songs in the country based on a weighted formula incorporating official streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of leading audio and video music services, plus download sales from top music retailers.” The inaugural edition of the chart launched today and dominating the top spots are some big names not traditionally/primarily associated with Afrobeats music.

Three of the top five spots on the April 2-dated chart are occupied by songs featuring Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber: CKay’s “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” is No. 1, Fireboy DML and Sheeran’s “Peru” is No. 2, Wizkid’s Bieber- and Tems-featuring “Peru” is No. 3, Omah Lay’s Bieber-featuring “Attention” is No. 4, and Tems’ “Free Mind” is No. 5.

Looking at the full top 50, Tems is the clear leader overall with eight entries, followed by Wizkid’s six, Burna Boy’s five, Rema’s four, and Davido’s three.

When the chart was announced last week, Afro Nation founder, co-head of UTA London, and Event Horizon founder Obi Asika said, “The last decade has seen Afrobeats explode into a worldwide phenomenon, influencing culture and fashion across the globe and I am humbled to have made a contribution to growing the genre alongside many talented, passionate people. There is still so much more potential within the scene and the community that has grown around it and I believe it is vital that with Billboard we now have a US chart that reflects this growth and provides a platform for emerging artists from every continent to showcase their talent to new audiences.”

Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard‘s SVP of Charts and Development, added, “Billboard is excited to collaborate with Afro Nation on the launch of the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart. As with much of the world, Afrobeats has grown tremendously as a genre in America and we are proud to showcase the top songs and artists with this new weekly ranking.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Missy Elliott, Anderson .Paak, Kali Uchis, And More Will Play The Inaugural Letsgetfr.ee Carnaval

by
Missy Elliott 2019 Urban One Honors Show
Getty Image / Paras Griffin

From Matthew Morgan, founder and ex-head of Afropunk, and partner Jocelyn Cooper comes Letsgetfr.ee Carnaval. Set to take place this August at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York, Letsgetfr.ee comes as a partnership with global creative agency Anomaly and aims to be a “diversity-focused, purpose-driven music experience.”

Letsgetfr.ee will take place over two days on two different stages. Festivities kick off on Saturday, August 20th, with Missy Elliott, Wizkid and Jhene Aiko headlining. Kali Uchis, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, and Ozuna will headline that Sunday.

Anomaly has partnered with DICE to provide a “choose your own adventure” ticketing structure, allowing festival-goers to pick and choose which artists they would like to see on either day of the festival. This will allow for affordable and accessible tickets for “every community that [Letsgetfr.ee] celebrates.”

“When we first heard the plans for Letsgetfr.ee we had to have an ‘everybody sit down’ moment,”said DICE President Russ Tannen in a statement. “The mission and ambition is aligned perfectly with DICE’s values and we’re excited to be named the exclusive ticketing partner.”

Queens residents who present a valid address can access the presale through Sunday, March 6th. by registering through DICE. The Queens presale begins on Tuesday, March 8th. General on-sale begins Wednesday, March 9th.

Check out the full line-up below.

Letsgetfr.ee 2022 line-up
Courtesy of Anomaly

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mary J Blige And Summer Walker Headline The Roots Picnic’s Return To Philadelphia

by
the roots picnic
Getty Image

After two years, The Roots Picnic is finally returning to its in-person live format in 2022 — and that’s not all. The festival has been extended an extra day and will take place June 4-5 at The Mann at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The eclectic festival lineup will be led by Mary J Blige, fresh off her Super Bowl halftime show performance and backed by The Roots; Summer Walker, whose 2021 album Still Over It topped the charts last year; and Nigerian singer Wizkid, who is undoubtedly this summer’s king of festivals.

Further down the flyer, the resurgent Jazmine Sullivan, jazz revivalist Kamasi Washington, and a pair of jam sessions — one led by J Period, with Black Thought, Benny The Butcher, and Rick Ross, the other featuring Keyshia Cole, SWV, and Musiq Soulchild — fill out the top-line acts. Other big draws include sax-rapper Masego, urban gospel OG Kirk Franklin, Chicago drill pioneer G Herbo, the quirky Tierra Whack, tough-guy rapper Freddie Gibbs, country star Mickey Guyton (who also sang the National Anthem at this year’s Super Bowl), Yebba, and Chief Keef.

There will also be a live podcast stage with Rory & Mal, Questlove Supreme, Jemele Hill, and more. Ticket presale began today at 10 am EST, while general sale starts Friday, February 18 at 10 am. You can get more information here.

Wizkid And Buju Are In A Big ‘Mood’ In Their Colorful New Video

by

Towards the end of 2020, Wizkid released Made In Lagos, his long-awaited fourth album, which produced “Essence,” his collaboration with Tems that went on to become one of the big songs of the summer of 2021. The track was later remixed with a verse from Justin Bieber, which further boosted the song’s appeal. That remix appeared on a deluxe reissue of the album, which also featured another fan-favorite record: “Mood,” with rising Nigerian singer Buju.

Months after sharing the deluxe album, Wizkid and Buju bring their talents together in a new video for “Mood.” It’s a vibrant effort that features Wizkid and Buju having a grand ol’ time together as they show off some dance moves. Wizkid also gets whisked away by a woman who does a great job of grabbing his attention.

Wizkid’s newest video comes after he and Burna Boy connected for one for the celebratory track “B. D’OR“. He’s also set to bring his talents to Puerto Rico’s 2022 Afro Nation festival, which is set to go down next month. Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Tems, Ckay, Koffee, Naira Marley, Rema, Tekno, and more are expected to perform.

You can watch the video for “Mood” above.

Made In Lagos (Deluxe) is out now via RCA Records. You can stream it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Burna Boy And Wizkid Have A Ball In Their Triumphant ‘B. D’OR’ Video

by

Burna Boy and Wizkid bring out the titular trophies in their triumphant video for “B. D’OR” — which they promptly slice in half, turning the coveted football awards into expensive-looking chalices. While I’m almost certain the trophies used in the video — which was shot in Lagos and features a cameo from UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman — are replicas rather than the real thing, it’s still a flex for the two Nigerian superstars, who spend the remainder of the video riding jetskis and hosting a yacht party in the Lagos bay.

The collaboration, which is the second in a year for the two famed Afrobeats stars, is named for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award given to the “best male football player in the world.” While the two stars’ own soccer skills are mostly unknown, the two certainly can claim to be in a similar echelon of worldwide popularity as the award’s various winners, as they are the most well-known artists in their genre (incidentally, the last and only African player to receive the award was Liberian striker George Weah in 1995).

Burna and Wizkid are both set to headline the upcoming Afro Nation festival later this year in Portugal (COVID protocols providing) alongside Megan Thee Stallion.

Watch the “B. D’OR” video above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.