I Watched My Dad Take His Last Breath While the World Sang Ojuelegba — The Pain Behind My Biggest Hit (Wizkid Shares his real story)

 

I don’t talk about this often. Maybe I should’ve. But I didn’t want pity. I didn’t want headlines. I just wanted peace.

You see, while Ojuelegba was blowing up in 2014  getting played from Lagos to London, making people dance, bringing me praise from Drake, Skepta, and the world I was quietly dying inside. That song, for you, was a vibe. But for me, it was a cry. A prayer. A pain I couldn’t scream.

Because while you were dancing to it, my father was taking his last breath.Yes, My hero. My first real “Starboy.” The man who held it down even when we had nothing. He never told me he was sick.

He didn’t want to distract me from my career. I was touring, recording, winning awards, doing interviews. And he was fading away. I got the call in the middle of a show in South Africa. “He’s gone.” Just like that.

I stood backstage, numb. The lights were calling me, the crowd was roaring, but my world had collapsed and wiped my face, fixed my collar, and walked out like nothing happened. That’s the part you never saw.

The world posted my pictures, celebrated my rise, called me a legend. But no one knew that I buried my father in silence, in secret. No PR, no headlines. Just tears and cold soil. My siblings and I cried in whispers.

They say fame gives you power. But it also demands silence. I couldn’t grieve publicly. People didn’t want to hear about pain they wanted hits. And I gave them. But let me tell you the truth: every line I wrote on that song was me talking to God.

“My people dey there / My people suffer… That was real. That was Ojuelegba.
I’ve been in rooms with billionaires, shared stages with legends, held platinum plaques but none of that filled the space my father left behind. Sometimes I wish I could trade all the awards just to hear his voice one more time.

So why am I telling you this now? Because behind every superstar, there’s a story you’ll never see on Instagram. Because grief doesn’t disappear with fame. And because someone out there needs to know that it’s okay to break, even when the world expects you to shine.

To every young person chasing success — don’t lose your soul trying to win the world. Call your parents. Hug them. Say what you need to say now. Tomorrow is not promised.

And to everyone who’s ever loved my music… just know: I was singing through pain. But maybe that’s what made it real.