Every year, like clockwork, the music industry gathers for its biggest night, a night that should be about prestige, recognition, and celebration. Instead, it’s a night of chaos, confusion, and controversy, wrapped up in just enough glitz to keep everyone pretending it isn’t a disaster. The Headies have never been perfect, far from it. But the fact that they remain Nigeria’s most prestigious music awards says more about the industry than it does about the show itself. It’s a glaring evidence of how Africa’s biggest entertainment scene continues to resist meaningful change.
We’ve made peace with unprofessional record labels, shrugged at the absurd reality that artists in this digital age still see pennies from record sales, and ignored the lingering question of why our musicians struggle despite global dominance. But an official, credible award show? That should be a given. And yet, year after year, the Headies prove themselves unworthy of the task. Artistes, brands, and industry players, for reasons best known to them, continue to prop up this glorified mess, turning a blind eye to its never-ending blunders.
2018 was a trainwreck before the curtains even rose. Nonso Amadi’s “Tonight” was yanked out of two major categories just 72 hours to the event, supposedly for missing the eligibility window. Flavour’s “Virtuous Woman” was bizarrely credited to Masterkraft instead of Cobhams in the Best Producer category. And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Tekno somehow ended up nominated for a song he didn’t even produce.
Fast forward to 2021, and the red carpet was set to begin at 7 PM. The main show was scheduled for 8 PM. Simple enough, right? But what should have been a seamless transition into a grand spectacle turned into a technical nightmare. The sound was a mess. Private conversations were broadcast to confused viewers at home. It was yet another year of wondering if anyone in charge actually knew what they were doing.
Then came 2022, the year the Headies finally outdid themselves. Instead of hosting in Lagos, Abuja, or even any African country, they packed their bags and took the ceremony to America. An award show dedicated to celebrating Afrobeats, held on foreign soil. If that wasn’t an insult to the industry, then what was?
Yet, here we are again, in 2025, ready to pretend like this is normal. Like the curse called the Headies isn’t just another symptom of an industry that refuses to demand better.
This year, before a single spotlight has hit the stage, before any artist has stepped onto the red carpet to awkwardly fumble through an interview, the Headies are already making headlines, for all the wrong reasons. The nominations dropped, and as always, they brought a storm of confusion, debates, and the all-too-familiar question: Who puts these lists together?
Time of dropping nominations? Muddled. Eligibility? A mystery. Songs that don’t belong in certain categories? Plenty. Tracks that had no business competing but somehow made it in? Oh, you already know. It’s a pattern now… a tradition even. They even misspelled an artist’s name.
A song that dropped after eligibility period sneaks into a category meant for this year’s hits. And of course, fan favorites are nowhere to be found, snubbed so blatantly that you almost have to admire the audacity.
Then there are the categories themselves, a labyrinth of misplaced songs and mismatched genres. An obvious Afrobeats anthem is sitting pretty in the R&B category. Rap singles have lost definition, And let’s not even get started on the Next Rated category, which continues to ignore the very definition of “next.” How does an artist with multiple mainstream hits still qualify as an emerging act? At this point, it feels like the selection process involves a blindfold, a dartboard, and a heavy dose of wishful thinking.
Here are the ways Headies struck again on nominations this year:
1. The Time Warp Nomination(Phyno’s Full Time Album and Omah Lay’s Moving):
“Still on the 17th Headies, Omah Lay’s ‘Moving’, nominated for Best Male Vocal Performance, was released on August 23, 2024, which is outside the eligibility period of April 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024.”
That tweet came from Adeayo(@ade_adeayo), a well-respected music journalist, but the real question is: What is the Headies actually doing?
At first, it seemed like a simple mistake, maybe a clerical error, a slip of the keyboard. But then came Phyno’s “Full Time Job”, released on October 4, 2024, somehow finding its way into the Rap Album of the Year category. That’s two different nominations, both outside the stated eligibility window. And while Phyno’s nomination was quietly erased as if it never happened, “Moving” remains untouched, standing tall among its category mates like it has every right to be there.
So now we must ask: Are there two different sets of rules at play? One for some, another for the rest? Or has the Headies discovered time travel and simply failed to inform the rest of us? Because at this point, that’s the only explanation that makes sense.
For an organization that touts itself as the apex of Nigerian music recognition, you’d think following their own eligibility rules would be the bare minimum. But time and time again, they prove that consistency is not their strong suit. Maybe next year, albums from 2026 will start getting nominations. At this rate, anything is possible.
2. The Vanishing Nominees List:
At exactly 5:16 PM, the Headies told us to check their website for the official nominees list. And like eager fans who still believe in the illusion of structure, people refreshed, waited, and refreshed again. But by 7:30 PM, the page was still as empty as the credibility of their nomination process.
Do they not realise that fans hang on to their every word? That artists, managers, and entire teams plan their schedules around these announcements? This isn’t a game of hide and seek, it’s supposed to be a prestigious award show. So again, we ask: What exactly is your job?
3: The Never-Ending Nominations Show:
At 2 PM (WAT), the Headies kicked off their nominations rollout. By 8:30 PM, they were still at it. Mind you, we’re not talking about the Grammys with over 90 categories, we’re dealing with less than 30. Yet, the process dragged on like a poorly scripted reality show, each hour exposing more of their unpreparedness.
Why exactly is this taking so long? Oh, I’ll tell you. They keep deleting, re-editing, and scrambling to fix their own mistakes. A nomination list should be airtight before it goes public, not a draft being corrected in real time. Can they get anything right? Or is “trial and error” just the official Headies method at this point?
4: The Rap Category that Isn’t Rap:
Shallipopi ft Odumodu’s ‘Cast’ as Rap Single of the Year? LMAO. Next joke, please. In fact, the entire Rap Single category reads like a comedy special rather than a serious recognition of hip-hop excellence. Make no mistake, Odumodu and every other artist in that lineup are incredibly talented. But if this is what we now classify as rap, then we might as well hold a funeral for the genre.
5. The Next Rated vs. Rookie Confusion:
Let’s talk about Next Rated, or whatever it is the Headies think they’re doing with it. LLONA, after an incredible run that should have made him a frontrunner for the category, somehow finds himself in “Rookie of the Year” instead, while Odumodu, already a household name in Nigerian music, comfortably sits in “Next Rated.” What exactly are the Headies trying to say? That one artist who has done everything right still isn’t “next” enough, but another who has already had mainstream success still qualifies?
And then there’s TML Vibez. The one artist who should have made it into either Rookie or Next Rated, but somehow got ignored entirely.
At this point, it’s hard to justify the existence of the “Rookie of the Year” category at all. The eligibility rules overlap with “Next Rated” so much that it’s practically the same thing. Every year, the Headies ignore their own guidelines anyway, bending the criteria to fit whatever chaotic narrative they’ve decided on. And let’s be honest, being placed in “Rookie” instead of “Next Rated” feels more like an insult than recognition. If they can’t get it right, they should just leave “Next Rated” to do what it was originally meant to: highlight the real rising stars. Because right now, it’s looking like another poorly written script in this never-ending award show farce.
6. What Happened to the Alté Category?
For months, Alté music has been on a relentless rise, trending, evolving, and reminding the whole country they’re here to stay. New artists, fresh sounds, experimental fusions, it’s been a renaissance of creativity. And with all that momentum, one would expect the Headies to finally give the genre its flowers, maybe even celebrate it in ways that have never been done.
But alas, logic and the Headies are like parallel lines: never meeting.
Even artists are speaking up. Dotti the Deity took to his X account(@DOTTiTheDeity), visibly baffled, asking the same question everyone is asking:
“Where is the Alternative category? Like where is it?, it’s been there for the length of time, why did you guys scrap it?”
A fair question. One the Headies will likely never answer.
Dotti didn’t stop there. He reminded everyone that Alté artists were very much active within the eligibility period. “I must tell you, loads of Alternative artists that had a great year this 2024… 2023..” And he wasn’t wrong. His own hit single “Forever Sweet” became a wedding anthem across the country. Dwin the Stoic dropped a full album. Kotrell, Savy Henry, and many more delivered solid projects. Yet, somehow, the Headies decided they weren’t worthy of a category this year.
What exactly is the criteria for being acknowledged? Does an entire genre suddenly become irrelevant overnight? Or did someone on the Headies committee simply wake up and decide, “Yeah, let’s pretend Alté never existed.”
At this point, nothing surprises us anymore. But let’s be clear, Alté artists are just as important as every other artist. Their contributions to the industry are undeniable. So why the omission?
Maybe next year, the Headies will remember that music recognition should be based on merit, not selective amnesia. Until then, the Alté movement will continue, with or without their validation.
Despite all this though, the show must go on. The industry will once again gather, dressed to the nines, pretending this circus is the pinnacle of music excellence. But for those who still care enough to ask, the question remains: When will the Headies finally get it right?
written by: Triumph Kehinde
