Made in Lagos

Made in Lagos
Studio album by
Wizkid
Released30 October 2020
GenreAfrobeats
Length52:05
Label
Producer
Wizkid chronology
Sounds from the Other Side
(2017) 		Made in Lagos
(2020) 		More Love, Less Ego
(2022)
Singles from Made in Lagos
  1. "Smile"
    Released: 16 July 2020
  2. "No Stress"
    Released: 17 September 2020
  3. "Ginger"
    Released: 8 January 2021
  4. "Essence"
    Released: 9 April 2021
  5. "Mood"
    Released: 8 February 2022

Made in Lagos is the fourth studio album by Nigerian singer Wizkid. It was released on 30 October 2020 by Starboy Entertainment and RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Burna Boy, Skepta, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Tay Iwar, Projexx, Tems, Damian Marley, Terri and was executive produced by P2J. The deluxe edition was released on 27 August 2021. It features additional guest appearances from Buju and Justin Bieber. In support of the album, Wizkid embarked on the Made in Lagos Tour (2021–2022). The album received a nomination at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Global Music Album.

Background

In late 2019, Wizkid released the singles "Joro" and "Ghetto Love", initially teased them as promotional singles for Made in Lagos.

On 6 December 2019, Wizkid's label Starboy Entertainment released the EP Soundman Vol. 1, centering mainly on Wizkid, and containing features from Chronixx, and a variety of other artists. It was cited as a marketing strategy to test the Afro-European market for Made in Lagos.

Release and promotion

Made in Lagos was initially set to be released on October 15. The album launch was later postponed until 30 October due to the Nigerian End SARS protests nationwide.

Wizkid promoted Made in Lagos with his Made in Lagos Tour, which started on 10 September 2021, performing in New York City, Boston, Toronto, and Los Angeles.

Singles

Wizkid released a collaboration with American singer, H.E.R., titled "Smile", on 16 July 2020 as the album's lead single. The song made its debut at number three in the first week of launch of the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart, and was featured on Barack Obama's 2020 summer playlist. On 17 September, Wizkid released the single "No Stress".

"Essence" featuring Tems, was released as the album's fourth single on 9 April 2021. On 13 August 2021, a remix of the song, featuring Canadian singer Justin Bieber, was released. The song became the highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 by an African act, peaking at number nine. "Essence" was also the first Nigerian song in history to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash7/10
The Guardian
The Native8.4/10
Naijaloaded8/10
NME
Pitchfork7.7/10
Mp3Paw.ng
Tubidy8/10
Pulse Nigeria7.2/10

Made in Lagos received favorable reviews for its cohesive themes, particularly ruling out the flaws on Wizkid's previous works, Sounds from the Other Side and Soundman Vol. 1.

On Made in Lagos Wizkid promotes culture and globalisation, with the album also containing themes of love, focus, goodwill, gratitude and grace. He implements the use of live instrumentation on Made in Lagos and explores a range of genres. Joey Akan of Pitchfork stated that "Wizkid balances the formula to unite home and abroad with big pop songs that can compete across cultures and an underlying theme that embraces his roots". Giving it a four star review, Kate Hutchinson of The Guardian found the album sounds slinkier and sexy, while naming it Wizkid's most sophisticated record yet.

Year-end rankings

Year-end rankings for Made in Lagos
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
The Guardian The Best Albums of 2020
43
Vice The 100 Best Albums of 2020
74
NME The 50 Best Albums of 2020
34
The Native The 20 Best Albums of 2020
1
Bounce Radio Live The 50 Best African Albums of 2020
3
Pan African Music Best Albums of 2020
N/A
The Blues Project The 15 Best R&B, Soul and Jazz Albums of 2020
N/A
Clash The Best Albums of 2020
36
The Fader The 50 Best Albums of the Year 2020
33
GQ (UK) The 24 Best Albums of 2020
17
The Atlantic The 16 Best Albums of 2020
N/A
Highsnobiety Highsnobiety's 20 Best Albums of 2020
5
Financial Times The Best 10 Albums of 2020
N/A
British Vogue The Best 12 Albums of 2020
1
Earmilk The Best Albums of 2020 (Hip Hop + R&B)
N/A
Reader's Digest The Best Albums of 2020
N/A
Pure Charts Top 20 International albums of 2020
N/A
MTV News 14 Albums you might've missed in 2020
N/A

Awards

At the 27th annual South African Music Awards, Made in Lagos received a nomination for the Rest of Africa Award. It also received a nomination at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Global Music Album. At the 7th annual African Entertainment Awards USA in 2021, Made in Lagos won Album Of The Year at the ceremony.

Made in Lagos Deluxe Edition received two nominations at 15th ceremony of The Headies, for Album of the Year, and Best Afrobeat Pop Album (Nigeria), a new category.

Commercial performance

Within one week of release, Made in Lagos broke several African streaming records; it became the first African album to debut on the Spotify Global Album chart, debuting within the top ten. The album surpassed 100 million streams across five platforms nine days after release, a rare milestone for Afro-pop artists.

It debuted at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart with over 4,100 album-equivalent units and number 80 on the US Billboard 200 with over 10,000 album-equivalent units. Following the release of the deluxe edition, the album sold an additional 17,000 units in the United States, peaking at number 28 on the US Billboard 200. It spent 130 weeks on the Billboard World Albums chart making it the longest charting African project ever on the chart, and is the most certified and best selling African album of all time in the United States.

Track listing

Made in Lagos track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Reckless"
P2J3:53
2."Ginger" (featuring Burna Boy)
3:16
3."Longtime" (featuring Skepta)
4:00
4."Mighty Wine"
  • Balogun
  • R. Isong
P2J3:38
5."Blessed" (featuring Damian Marley)
  • Balogun
  • Marley
  • R. Isong
P2J4:23
6."Smile" (featuring H.E.R)
P2J4:12
7."Piece of Me" (featuring Ella Mai)
P2J3:17
8."No Stress"
  • Balogun
  • R. Isong
P2J3:49
9."True Love" (featuring Tay Iwar and Projexx)
Juls4:07
10."Sweet One"
  • Balogun
  • R. Isong
  • E. Isong
  • Marco Bernardis
  • Venner
  • P2J
  • Sammy Soso
4:11
11."Essence" (featuring Tems)
4:08
12."Roma" (featuring Terri)
  • Balogun
  • Terry Akewe
  • Okhuofu Isaiah
Blaqjerzee3:00
13."Gyrate"
  • Balogun
  • Ekofo
  • Mino Drerup
  • Michael Hunter
  • Tomi Mannonen
  • Ekofo
  • Saint Mino
  • London
  • Kill September
3:14
14."Grace"
  • Balogun
  • R. Isong
  • Ekofo
  • P2J
  • Ekofo
3:23
Total length:52:05
Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Anoti"
P.Priime3:01
16."Mood" (featuring Buju)
  • Balogun
  • Daniel Benson
  • R. Isong
P2J3:30
17."Steady"
3:23
18."Essence" (featuring Justin Bieber and Tems)
  • Balogun
  • Bieber
  • Openiyi
  • U. Oniko
  • O. Oniko
  • R. Isong
Legendury Beatz
4:23
Total length:66:22

Charts

Chart performance for Made in Lagos
Chart (2020-2023) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 69
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 86
Canadian Albums (Billboard) 45
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 33
French Albums (SNEP) 60
Irish Albums (OCC) 42
Nigerian Albums (TurnTable Top 50) 17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 73
UK Albums (OCC) 15
US Billboard 200 28
US World Albums (Billboard) 1

Certifications

Certifications for Made in Lagos
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) Gold 40,000‡
Netherlands (NVPI) Gold 20,000‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) Gold 10,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.