Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, known professionally as King Sunny Adé, is a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international success and has been called one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Olamide Gbenga Adedeji is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is regarded as one of the most influential artists in Nigeria and has been crucial to the creative and commercial success of several Afrobeats music stars, and is consistently praised for his role in elevating street pop to mainstream recognition as a distinct music genre. He records in Yoruba and English. In 2011, he released his debut studio album Rapsodi while signed to Coded Tunes. YBNL, his follow-up album, was released under his label imprint "Yahoo Boy No Laptop", also known as YBNL Nation. The album was supported by the singles "First of All", "Voice of the Street", "Stupid Love", and "Ilefo Illuminati". On 7 November 2013, he released his third studio album Baddest Guy Ever Liveth. The album's singles include "Durosoke" and "Yemi My Lover". On 17 July 2013, Olamide became the first Nigerian to sign an endorsement deal with Cîroc.
Oyenike Laoye, known professionally as Nikki Laoye, is a Nigerian recording artist, singer, humanitarian, songwriter, dancer and occasional actress, renowned for her musical expressions and stage performances. As a recording artist, Laoye's music has earned her several awards including The Headies Award in 2013 for Best Female Vocal Performance and the All African Music Awards (AFRIMA) in 2014 for Best Female Artiste in African Inspirational Music. She is also well known for the 2006 hit song Never felt this Way before, the 2013 dance single "1-2-3", the soulful ballad "Only You", which she remixed in 2016 featuring Seyi Shay and the love song Onyeuwaoma featuring Banky W.
The Headies is a music awards show established in 2006 by the Hip Hop World Magazine of Nigeria to recognize outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry. The annual ceremony features performances by established and promising artists. It is broadcast live on HipTV to viewers across Nigeria. The first and second editions of The Headies were held at the Muson Center in Onikan, Lagos State. Between 2010 and 2012, the awards were held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos. Several media personalities in Nigeria have hosted the annual ceremony, including Darey Art Alade, D'banj, Dakore Egbuson, Banky W., Rita Dominic, M.I, Tiwa Savage and Dr SID.
The Headies 2012 was the 7th edition of The Headies. It was hosted by M.I and Omawumi. The ceremony took place on 20 October 2012, at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos. The aforementioned hosts thrilled fans with their song titled "The Headies". Chidinma opened the show by performing her song "Kedike". The Okoye brothers won a total of three awards. The Artiste of the Year award went to Wizkid. Tiwa Savage and Wande Coal won the Best Male and Female Vocal Performance categories, respectively. Vector won the Best Rap Single and Lyricist on the Roll plaques for "Angeli". Davido won the Next Rated category and was later awarded a Hyundai Sonata. The Headies celebrated the reunion of prominent Nigerian musicians from the 80s and 90s, including Onyeka Onwenu, Oris Wiliki, Mike Okori, Baba Fryo, Shina Peters, Fatai Rolling Dollar and Daddy Showkey. Femi Kuti was honored with the Hall of Fame award.
The Headies Award for Artiste of the Year is an award presented at The Headies, a ceremony that was established in 2006 and originally called the Hip Hop World Awards. It was first presented to P-Square in 2006.
Tobechukwu Ejiofor, professionally known as Illbliss, is a Nigerian rapper, actor, and businessman. He is the owner of the talent managing outfit known as 'The Goretti Company', company responsible for launching the careers of Chidinma and Phyno, among others. He is regarded as one of the most influential Nigerian Rappers helping to pioneer the 'Eastern - Igbo Boy Movement' in Nigerian hip hop.
Ayodeji Richard Makun,
Phillip Kayode Moses, better known as Pheelz, is a Nigerian record producer, singer, songwriter, and graphic designer. Pheelz is credited to have produced all but one song on Olamide's Baddest Guy Ever Liveth album. In 2022, he had a hit with his song "Finesse", a collaboration with Bnxn.
Folarin Falana, better known by his stage name Falz, is a Nigerian rapper, songwriter, and actor. He began his career in secondary school after forming a group called The School Boys with a friend, before launching his professional music career as a music artist began in 2009. Falz gained wider recognition after releasing the song "Marry Me" featuring vocals from Poe and Yemi Alade.
The Headies 2016 was the 11th edition of The Headies. It was held on December 22, 2016 at the Eko Convention Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Themed "Think, Create, Recreate." The event was hosted by Adesua Etomi and Falz. The nominees were announced by the award's organizers in November 2016. Tekno was nominated for the Next Rated award, but ended up being disqualified due to his refusal to honour the category and support the campaign. Jazzman Olofin and Adewale Ayuba jointly performed the song "Raise the Roof". Aramide performed her song "Funmi Lowo" with assistance from Ras Kimono. The ceremony also featured additional performances from Falz, 2Baba, Seyi Shay and Flavour. Olamide received eight nominations and won a total of four, including Best Rap Single for his single "Eyan Mayweather". Mr Eazi won the Next Rated category and was awarded a SUV at a later date. Mayorkun toppled Dice Ailes and Koker for the Rookie of the Year award. Laolu Akins was honored with the Hall of Fame award, while Flavour received the Special Recognition award.
Jimmy Jatt Amu, known professionally as DJ Jimmy Jatt, is a Nigerian disc jockey who is revered as one of the pioneering Afrobeats hip hop DJs in Nigeria. He started out his music career as a rapper under the sobriquet Master J but delved into DJing after his failure in getting signed by a record label despite releasing a handful of songs including a demo recording. He is best known for his Jimmy's Jump Off concert, an event he started in 2008 to become one of the most attended entertainment events in Nigeria. In 2006, he won the Hip Hop World Hall of Fame award at the maiden edition of The Headies for his contribution to hip-hop in Nigeria.
Victor Adere, better known as Victor AD, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.
The Headies 2019 was the thirteenth edition of The Headies. It was held on October 19, 2019, at the Eko Convention Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Themed "Power of a Dream", the ceremony was hosted by rapper Reminisce and actress Nancy Isime. After shortlisting thousands of entries submitted between January 2018 and June 2019, the organizers of the ceremony announced the nominees on 1 October 2019. Burna Boy set a record for the most nominations in one night with 10 nominations. Teni followed with 6 and Wizkid with 5. The ceremony featured performances from a number of artists, including Styl-Plus, Sunny Neji, Duncan Mighty, Teni and Victor AD. Teni won the most awards with 4. Rema won the Next Rated award, beating Fireboy DML, Joeboy, Lyta, Victor AD and Zlatan.
Adedamola Oyinlola Adefolahan, known professionally as Fireboy DML, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. In 2018, he signed a record deal with YBNL Nation, a record label founded by rapper Olamide. His debut studio album, Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps, was released in 2019. He won Listener's Choice and was nominated for Song of the Year for "Jealous" at the 2020 Soundcity MVP Awards Festival. His third studio album, Playboy, entered the Billboard 200 at number 123. His latest album, Adedamola, was released in 2024.
Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps is the debut studio album by Nigerian singer Fireboy DML. It was released by YBNL Nation on November 29, 2019. The album comprises thirteen tracks and doesn't feature any guest artist. It was produced by Pheelz, Cracker Mallo, Echo the Guru, IamBeatz and P.Priime. LTG was supported by the previously released singles "Jealous", "What If I Say" and "King". It received generally positive reviews from music critics, but was criticized for being labeled an "Afro-Life" record instead of an R&B album.
Aremu Olaiwola Qudus is a Nigerian music video director. He has worked with artists of several musical genres including Wizkid, Skepta, Davido, Burna Boy and many others, winning 2020 The Headies Award for best music video of the year.
Ahmed Ololade, known professionally as Asake, is a Nigerian singer, rapper and songwriter. He was previously signed to YBNL Nation and Empire Distribution. His stage name "Asake" is his mother's name.
Alexander Uwaifo known professionally as Andre Vibez is a Nigerian music producer and songwriter. He is best known for producing "Rush" from Ayra Starr's album 19 & Dangerous and Rema international hit single “Calm Down” which peaked at number one on the India IMI International chart and also peak no.3 on Billboard Hot 100. In September 2022, he was announced as one of the newly signed record producers of the Nigerian record label, Mavin Records.
The Headies 2023 was the 16th edition of Nigerian music awards The Headies. It was held at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on 3 September 2023, and hosted by Osas Ighodaro and Terrence J. The ceremony was to be aired live on HipTV. Burna Boy lead nominations with ten, Asake with eight, Rema, Omah Lay, Victony, Simi, Kizz Daniel, and Pheelz received five each. While Oxlade received four, and Ruger with three. Rema, and Burna Boy received three awards each.
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