Wizkid dances his way to three Billboard awards

The event, which was held yesterday, saw Wizkid win awards in three categories: Top R&B Song, Top R&B Collaboration and Top Streaming Song (Audio). He was up for seven.

All of the nominations, and thus all of the awards, were courtesy the same song, which last year became the most streamed song of 2016 on Spotify. A share of the streaming profits went to Wizkid, who was both producer and featured artist on the record, along with Filipino R&B artist Kyla.

Though his song missed out on a Grammy earlier this year, three Billboard awards might go some way as compensation for Wizkid, who has released two albums and several singles in the span of his career.

It was a song from his second album, Ayo, that led to his first encounter with Drake who recorded a verse on the remix of ‘Ojuelegba’. The original song, autobiographical and already a hit, became an even bigger hit after the Canadian rapper’s cosign. Thereafter, news of another collaboration between the pair spread across the music media. Released as a single ahead of Drake's fourth studio album, Views, ‘One Dance’ quickly became a global hit.

The album itself broke several records, and last night it helped Drake break the record for an artist with the most gongs in a single edition of the Billboard Music Awards. The record was previously held by Adele, who won 12 awards at the 2012 ceremony. Drake went past the Brit’s record, taking 13 trophies at the 21 May 2017 event.