Wizkid wins third consecutive NAACP Image Award

First held in 1967, the awards celebrate outstanding accomplishments by people of colour working in film, TV, music and literature. This year’s edition awarded achievements in more than 80 categories, which were announced in virtual ceremonies throughout the week.

‘Essence’, described by many as the biggest song out of Nigeria last year, edged Fireboy DML’s ‘Peru’, Tiwa Savage’s Brandy-assisted ‘Somebody’s Son’, Omah Lay’s ‘Understand’ and KiDi’s ‘Touch It’, bringing Wizkid’s tally at the awards to three. Last year, Beyoncé’s ‘Brown Skin Girl’ featuring Wizkid won the Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album Award. The ‘Ojuelegba’ star’s contribution on the record also secured him the Outstanding Duo or Group Award in 2020.

Produced by P2J and Legendury Beatz, ‘Essence’ is taken from Wizkid’s Grammy-nominated fourth album Made in Lagos. Both song and album are up for awards at music’s biggest night: ‘Essence’ for Best Global Music Performance and Made in Lagos for Best Global Music Album.

In August 2021, following the global impact of the song, which charted on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200, Wizkid shared a remix of ‘Essence’ featuring a new verse from Justin Bieber.

Wizkid’s NAACP win is his second big feat in as many weeks. Last week, Made in Lagos became the longest-running album by an African act on the Billboard World Albums Chart after surpassing Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora’s eponymous album, which held the 27-year record with 66 weeks on the chart.

Meanwhile, US singer and actress Jennifer Hudson was the biggest winner at the 2022 NAACP Image Awards, taking home the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award and the Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Award for her performance as Aretha Franklin in Respect.