Wizkid vs Fela: Let’s Settle It Once and For All

ByNewsmakers

Jan 23, 2026 #Afrobeat pioneer Fela, #Afrobeats history Nigeria, #Fela, #Fela Anikulapo Kuti legacy, #Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, #Fela classic music, #Fela political music icon, #Fela vs Wizkid comparison, #greatest Nigerian musician, #Nigerian music debate, #WizKid, #Wizkid Afrobeats superstar, #Wizkid global influence, #Wizkid greater than Fela, #Wizkid vs Fela

Fela and Wizkid

Dipo Kehinde/

Every generation deserves its heroes, and Wizkid has earned his place as one of the brightest stars of contemporary Nigerian music. He has delivered hits, crossed borders, gathered awards and collaborations, and helped project Afrobeats to the world.

But to claim that Wizkid is greater than Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (Abami Eda) is not confidence, it is historical amnesia.

Greatness in music is not measured only by charts, streams and celebrity heat. It is measured by impact, originality and endurance. Wizkid is a gifted singer and performer, but Fela was a total musical phenomenon: composer, bandleader, arranger, cultural architect and instrumental wizard. The man did not merely sing songs; he built soundscapes. He commanded the piano and saxophone with a mastery that turned every performance into theatre, fire and prophecy.

Most importantly, Fela did what only the truly great can do: he created a genre. Wizkid has mastered Afrobeats and modern pop sensibilities brilliantly, but Fela invented Afrobeat and made it a weapon of artistic identity. That is the difference between riding a wave and creating the ocean. Fela is a legend. Wizkid is a star.

Wizkid’s music is contemporary, shaped by the mood and appetite of the moment. Fela’s music is classic because it speaks beyond its era. It does not just entertain; it interrogates power, exposes hypocrisy, and mirrors the human condition. That is why decades after his death, Fela still feels present, because his songs are not seasonal. They are eternal.

This is not a knock on Wizkid. It is simply the truth. Wizkid is a star of his time. Fela is a monument in time. And in the final judgment of history, the only critic that cannot be bribed. Fela remains not just greater, but untouchable.

Dipo Kehinde is a seasoned art writer/critic