Wizard Chan, a man whose deep connection to spirituality and unparalleled musical talent have earned him recognition as a breath of fresh air in the music industry. With captivating visuals and soul-stirring vocals, Wizard Chan has proven himself to be a gifted songwriter as well. His breakthrough single, “Earth Song,” not only took the music world by storm but also dominated the charts for weeks on end. Now, with the release of his latest body of work, “The Messenger,” on April 3, 2024, Wizard Chan continues to make waves in the industry. Rooted in spirituality, both in his sound and visuals, Wizard Chan’s unique approach to music is solidifying his presence in the Nigerian music scene.
In this interview with Superboldmag, he opens up about his life, music journey and most importantly the essence of his sound. The conversation explored the aspirations, challenges, and triumph.
Can you share with us what growing up was like for you? What were some memorable moments from your childhood?
My childhood was a very good one. I come from a family of five children. I’m the last of them, boys, and a girl. God blessed me that I didn’t come from a broken home. My parents are still alive and well. No stepbrothers or sisters. It’s a small compact family. I have different moments if I can remember in different segments of my life. I can remember when I was three to five years of age, my dad taking me on a drive he would put me on his leg, and I would think I’m the one driving. That was one of my fun memories. I remember him playing proper disco records. My dad wasn’t a music person but for some reason, I remember this. Another fun moment I enjoyed doing was when I was in secondary school, my immediate elder brother and I would stay up during the famous midnight call days, while I’d sing throughout the night to his classmates. That was another fun memory.
Where did you spend your early years?
I was born in Okirika, River’s state but I grew up in Borokiri Port Harcourt near Omah Lay’s childhood home.
Would you say your father introduced you to music or you found that on your own?
I found music on my own. My dad isn’t a music person so I can’t say he introduced it to me, I found music on my own through my elder ones and community”
Reflecting on your journey, how long had you been pursuing music before your big break happened? Can you take us back to those days and share what your life was like before fame found you?
I will start by saying before my breakthrough in 2023, I’ve been doing music for 13 years. It’s been a long time, it’s not an easy path to follow. It can be depressing; it is still depressing. Sometimes you want more but you can’t just have more. What I was doing at that time was making music. I never stopped. Every single money I made in this life, went back into music. For some reason music paid me back. I invested a lot and not even just money, my time. But I guess music was waiting for me to tap into my spirituality before it let me become who I really wanted to be. So, the moment I embraced spirituality, it happened. I was always going to studios; I became a studio rat. I schooled in Ghana, so I always go to studios in Accra. I had people that had big studios. A guy called Boom had one of the biggest studios in Ghana at the time. If music didn’t pay me, I would have been useless I’m sure because I gave in everything, I had in my life to it. I’m grateful to God Almighty that I’m able to get where I am even though I do not think I’m famous yet.
The depression you encountered during your struggling days, is it something of the past or does it still creep in occasionally?
I do believe that human beings cannot do without depression because the balance of the world relies on good and bad, day and night, darkness, and light. As much as I believe that depression isn’t a good thing, if you look at it from a different angle it could become your tool for motivation. These days I do not feel depressed like that anymore and even though I feel it a bit, I always convert it to positive energy. I go to the studio and make music about how I’m feeling. These days what I feel most is anger. I try to do a bit of anger management. I think I said that in one of my songs Demons and Angels. I spoke about anger management. I feel like I’ve won the battle of depression. Depression doesn’t take me down anymore, when it comes, I know how to navigate my way around it. I’m grateful for my depression because it gave me Earth Song. It made me feel so bad that when I was writing that song, I was writing it for my kids. I wasn’t writing it because I was going to make it into music. I had given up on music at the time and just wanted to write good music to give to my kids one day.
Speaking of your childhood, would you say your environment aided the ‘traditionality’ in your music?
No. The funny thing is I really hated culture. I believe that when you are destined for something no matter what you do, no matter how far you run, you are always going to come back to that thing. I was one of those kids that didn’t wear traditional clothes, I didn’t go to my village up to like 8 years. I was lucky that my parents were people that made us hear our language and speak our language. One day I was struggling with music, and I had just moved to lagos and things were just anyhow and I remembered my dad a prayer he always used to say ‘tamuno, ora omobara ibipaka’. I had written the verses of Earth Song and were I infused the prayer ‘Sobiye simeh tamuno, ora omobara ibipaka wa luwa eh, Sobiye simeh tamuno, ora omobara ibipaka oh, iyanabo tamuno, omo bara ibi paka eh, ama eh ama eh ama ye ye ye ye ye o, anye anye o, anye anye o’ which translates to Father Lord in heaven give me victory on earth. My dad loved to say that short prayer and I loved it so much. But before then I had started making music with bomanime in 2021. 2022 was when I finally said this is how I wanted to make music. for some reason I just started finding myself loving the culture so much.
Was Tuface the one that ignited your love for music?
When I heard Tuface, I was just like there’s just something correct about whatever he’s doing. I love the way he writes; I love the emotions he puts through music. I remember when I started going to the studio, I wanted to sing like tuface.so I would say yes, he is the one that made me love music.
When did you realize that music was more than just a hobby for you? What sparked that realization, and how did it shape your path moving forward?
From 2011 when I started going to the studio, I knew I was going to do music full time. I just wanted to feel ready, be the best of myself and when I came out there’s only going to be one wizard chan. I always knew music was the only thing I really wanted to do with my life.
Can you walk us through that incredible journey and share the story behind your rise to fame?
I’ve watched Earth Song grow from zero to hundred. Earth Song is my baby because I remember I used to post my songs on my WhatsApp stories, but they were not out and a friend of mine downloaded the video and posted on her own stories and somebody on her list took the video and posted it on his TikTok and it started making noise. Then I got a call from her apologizing how someone leaked my song through her. I doubted her but she sent a link and I saw that the video the guy posted already had 30,000 views on TikTok. I called my manager and asked whether we were going to drop the song. The worst that could happen is we get 10,000 streams off the song. I remember staying up all night shooting the content and before posting it on my page by 6 am, I prayed. By 9 am, the song had 150,000 views. Nigerians’ kind of like caught up later to me. I was already making waves in the U.S, U.K, Brazil and Canada and other parts of the world. Nigerians came like a month or two when Jazzy posted me and that’s when Nigerians caught up with the song. I remember the first day I got into Top 200, I shed a tear. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is real’. We kept on going till I got to number 19 on the chart organically. It was mind blowing. I was still going to go up then David dropped his album, and we all went down. I mean I’m just grateful for that because I can’t really remember how I felt but it was too good to be true. At some point I thought I was living a dream. The major thing is that Nigerians are here now and I’m grateful to them.
Did you ever anticipate the overwhelming success your music achieved?
I have not gotten to what I’m anticipating for if I’m being honest. You can’t work for 13 years every single day and expect greatness. I know the amount of hard work I have put in; I know where God is supposed to take me to and I know I’m on my way there. I know I’m going to do the stadiums, the arenas, Madison Square, I’m going to do it all. That’s where I believe God is going to take me to by his grace. I’m on the lift getting there. When I’m there I can answer this question properly.
Transitioning to your creative process, can you give us insight into how you bring your songs to life? What does your music production process look like, from the initial idea to the final track?
I can only show you that but to explain it I can’t. First and foremost, I have one producer I work with, his name is Pumba Mix. I’ve been working with him since 2019. We have a very good chemistry, and we understand ourselves. I have always wanted to make music that would resonate with the soul but at the same time was going to be commercial enough for people to listen. What I do with my writing is that I tell my stories. I do not lie in my songs. I tell my story or a story of someone close to me. An example is my song, Demons and Angels. I talked about the good and bad side of me. I spoke about how I control my anger and that’s me being vulnerable. Above all, there’s a lot of spirituality that I put in my music. When I want to record my songs, if I’ve recorded the ones, I wrote people can be present, but when I do my chants, everyone has to leave the studio. Only my producer can be there with me. Sometimes I even tell him to leave so that it can be just me. Till now when I work with other artists and they demand the chants, I tell them it’s not possible because they are present and I do not write them, they come to me. In my songs I always shout ‘Teme’ which means ‘spirit’ in my language. I do that because I need the spirit to give me those chants because I do not write them, and they don’t fail me. Spirituality is a very big part of my writing process.
Your latest EP, “The Messenger,” has been receiving a lot of attention. What inspired the title, and can you tell us about the themes explored in this project?
The Messenger is because I am God’s messenger. I am not a religious guy. There are a lot of misguided things I feel like God told me to say. One of my song’s higher powers on the ep, that is the message given to me to pass onto people. I do believe and know that I’m the messenger. I am not the message, there’s a difference. I want people to understand that I’m not God. If you take a look at my lyrics, there’s always a message there. It’s because of the number of messages that are in my songs that I decided to call the ep the messenger.
Let’s talk about your style and fashion choices. How do you approach your image in the music industry, and why is it important to you? Do you have any fashion icons or influences that inspire your look?
I direct all my videos and all my videos are all my ideas. I studied marketing in school, and I understand branding and I know that my brand must be a certain way. I’m an overall creative guy and tell my directors, this is what I want, please bring it to life. From the music video to the content video, to my fashion, it is all intentional. It is very important to stay branded.
Talk to us about infusing your culture to your songs and videos?
I’m an Ijaw man from Niger Delta. Not all my songs will have cultural elements, but they will be in some just like they are now.
How do you navigate the balance between artistic experimentation and creating music that resonates with a wider audience?
I just make music for myself; the rest will catch up. I see people say all sorts about my music. you can’t please everyone and I’m the wrong person to do that to. So, as I see your vile comment, I block you. I help you not to go through the pain of listening to my music.
Have there been any challenges or obstacles you’ve faced along the way? How did you overcome them, what lessons did you learn from and how do you stay motivated and inspired?
First of all, I have a very wonderful manager, she’s my closest friend at the time in this world. Apart from that we are like family. She is a very intelligent person. She will always come to tell me how I’m good at what I’m doing, but above all, I’ve come to learn that you can’t win everybody over. Some of the biggest stars in Nigeria like Burna, Wiz, David, and the world have haters, who am I? even Jesus Christ and Mohammed had haters. You can’t have and convince everybody, but what I can do is block you. I’m not blocking you because I hate you, I’m saving you the stress from seeing me or hearing my music.”
For aspiring musicians looking to break into the industry, what advice would you give them based on your own journey and experiences?
There are two types of musicians we have. First are the trend setters and the other are the trend followers. You have to figure out which one you are or want to be. If you want to be a trend follower, it is an easy path. You look at an artist that is very big, learn his style and copy his blueprint, add a touch of your own and be very consistent. You will get the attention you desire. But you might never be greater than that artist because that artist is him and you are just a prototype. Or you are a trendsetter like me, you create your own style, work on it, you get to hear everybody tell you know, you cannot do it, it’s impossible. Keep your head up and don’t look back till you have 100 people that love your sound till you get to whatever number you want to get to. Then you now see people trying to sing like you. Then you know you have made it. Above all consistency on both ends is important but first you have to choose whether you want to become a trendsetter or trend follower.
What do you love about being a celebrity and how do you find a balance between vulnerability and maintaining your privacy as an artist in the public eye?
I do believe that I am not all that famous. I know that I’m going to get there. But one of the consequences I know of being famous is being cooked up in your house a lot, you do not have a social life, you have to calculate every movement to avoid see finish. I still go to some places to buy food and people mistake me for Bnxn. When I get famous, everyone who sees me will know that this is Wizard Chan.
What genre would classify your sound?
For now I am under the Afrobeats Alternative sound genre. I do believe that I have created my own sound and do not belong in this category being my music is spiritual.
Can you tell us about a specific song or album that has had a significant impact on your musical style or artistic direction and are there any particular genres or musical styles that you’re interested in exploring or experimenting with in the future?
For the albums that influenced, me I have two: One by Damien Marley and Nas titled ‘Distant Relatives’ album and Tu Face Idibia’s ‘Grass to Grace’ album. These albums are everything to me, I still listen to them till date. You guys would see me do jazz, opera and everything I can make by God’s grace. I believe nothing is impossible with God.
How do you use social media and digital platforms to connect with your fans and build a strong online presence?
I use a lot of content creation as you can see on my page. I make sure that my content is up standard and make sure I try to engage with my fans in the comment sections. I reply almost every chance that I can, and they are always surprised about it.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry, and how do you see it evolving in the future?
There are a lot of new artists including myself like Qing Madi coming out. I believe that we have the quality of music to take it to the next level. All we need is the platform from and the support from Nigerians, industry OGs and executives.
Lastly, if you could collaborate with any musician in the world, who would it be and why? What do you envision creating together?
I would love to collaborate with Damien Marley, Tu Face Idibia, Lucky Dube, Michael Jackson and Brenda Fassie. I do not know what I’d create with most of these music stars, but I know it’s going to be fire. With Damien Marley, we are going to educate the world. Damien Marley is my favourite artist of all time. While with Michael we are creating something on the ‘Hold My Hands’ and ‘We Are the World’ level.
Wizard Chan’s journey shows the importance of perseverance and authenticity. Through his music, which is deeply personal, he can inspire and touch the hearts of those who listen. By opening up about his own experiences, Wizard Chan motivates aspiring artists to stay genuine, work hard, and be proud of their uniqueness.
Written by Uchechi Umenze