Wizkid has been able to position himself as one of the biggest names in the Nigerian music industry and Africa at large. It is incredible to see how he has grown from his days of ‘Holler at your boy’ to where he is today.
That did not happen overnight. It was a combination of talent, hard work, and proper publicity, and this could be said in the songs he has released from then till now.
A quick look at his songs will have one confused on the topic of which song to pick as his best song but following the numbers and the award, coupled with nominations, it is safe to say Essence featuring Tems is his best so far.
Due to special preferences, it might be hard to come to that conclusion because some believe that Wizkid does not have any bad song so it can be argued that all his songs are the best, but talking about the numbers Essence racked up, it’s obvious the song registered with millions of people worldwide.
Essence was released in October 2020 and has since gained international recognition.
Certification
So far, Essence is certified in four countries around the world. In Canada, the song is Gold certified, having sold 40,000 units. It is also certified Gold in New Zealand, having sold 15,000 units. It is certified Gold in the United Kingdom as well, having sold 400,000 units. The best of it all is its United States certification. The song is certified Platinum in the United States, having sold 1,000,000 units.
This shows how well Wizkid has positioned his brand to be able to sell that much outside of his own country.
Charts
Essence got on several Charts since its release in 2020, the best of them being the Global 200 (Billboard) where it was 28, US World Digital Song Sales (Billboard) where it was 1, US Rhythmic (Billboard) where it was 2, US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) where it was 3, US Billboard Hot 100 where it was 9, and US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard) where it was 21.
It also showed on other Charts like the Canadian Hot 100 at 30, UK Singles (OCC) at 16, UK Afrobeats Singles (OCC) at 1 among many others.
The data presented online showed that Essence was on a total of 17 Weekly Charts and 5 Year-end Charts.
Awards
At the All Africa Music Awards held in 2021, Essence won two awards, one for Best African Collaboration and the other for Song of the Year in Africa.
The song won three awards at the African Entertainment Awards USA held in 2021. It won an award for Best Collaboration, Best Video, and Song of the Year.
Best of it all is that Essence has a Grammy nomination for Best Global Music Performance and should the song win in that category, that will make it Wizkid’s second Grammy Award.
Conclusion
We can all agree that Wizkid does not have any bad songs but at the same time, we can also agree that Wizkid does not have a better song so far. It can be argued that he did magic on this song and for those who don’t agree with him before now, we can say he truly created magic on Essence.
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