The 14th edition of Africa‘s biggest award, Headies, held virtually last night, 21 February 2021. The event was hosted by famous HipTV’s Nancy Isime and Nigerian comedian, Bovi.
While entertaining viewers watching live from home, Bovi appeared quite simple making a bold statement with his EndSARS outfit.
The event was initially scheduled for December last year but was shifted due to the pandemic. The nominations from last year revealed the musical prowess of Fireboy DML with 9 nominations overall, Davido and Wurld with 7 each, and the Grammy-award nominee Burna Boy with 6 among others.
With new development, Headies included “Songwriter of the Year” and treated viewers real good with mind-blowing performances from BBN Lockdown Winner Laycon, DJ Neptune, Fireboy DML, and The Cavemen.
YBNL’s Fireboy who also has a record deal with Empire is definitely on fire. The Tattoo singer returned home with 5 Headies awards.
The Next Rated award went to no one but Omah Lay who is gaining traction with the throat of an Afro bird.
Wizkid a.k.a Starboy was awarded Artiste of the Year. Though his “Smile” music video with H.E.R. among other videos nominated in Best Music Video category lost to Davido‘s “1 Milli”.
King Sunny Ade, a two-time Grammy-award nominee, was inducted into the Headies Hall of Fame following Fela’s first time nomination for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which he became eligible 25 years after his first record.
Here’s a list of the artistes who xplored Headies 2020:
Best R&B Album
- Laughter, Tears and Goosebumps – Fireboy DML – Winner
- I like girls with trobul – Sarz ft Wurld
- King – Praiz
- Boo of the Booless – Chike
- Celia – Tiwa Savage
Best Rap Album
- God’s Engineering – A-Q – Winner
- Illy Chapo X – Illbliss
- YPSZN2 – Psycho YP
- Cult! – Paybac Iboro
- The Erigma 2 – Erigga
Best R&B Single
- Under the sky – Praiz
- Duduke – Simi
- Bad Influence – Omah Lay
- Dangerous love – Tiwa Savage
- Fireboy DML– Tattoo – Winner
Best Pop Single
- Billionaire – Teni
- Nobody – DJ Neptune ft Joeboy, Mr Eazi – Winner
- Lady – Rema
- FEM – Davido
- Joro – Wizkid
- Skeletun – Tekno
Best Pop Album
- Fireboy DML– Apollo – Winner
- Davido – A Good Time
- Yemi Alade- Woman of Steel
- Burna Boy – African Giant
- Adekunle GOLD- Afro Pop Vol. 1
Best Vocal Performance (Male)
- Wurld – “Ghost Town”
- Chike – “Forgive”
- Praiz – “Under the sky” – Winner
- Cobhams – “We plenti”
- Nonso Amadi – “What makes you sure”
- Johnny Drille – “Count on you”
Best Vocal Performance (Female)
- Simi – “No longer beneficial”
- Lindsey Abudei – “One on the outside”
- Niniola – “Addicted” – Winner
- J’dess – “Chi Efo”
- Yemi Alade – “Lai Lai”
- Imanse – “Ajala”
Best Rap Single
- “OGB4IG” – Reminisce
- “Shut Up” – Blaqbonez
- “Country” – Illbliss
- “Get the Info” – Phyno ft Falz, Phenom
- “Bop daddy” – Falz ft Ms Banks – Winner
Best Street Hop Artiste
- Naira Marley & Young John – “Mafo”
- Mayorkun – “Geng” – Winner
- Reminisce ft Olamide, Naira Marley) – “Instagram”
- Rudeboy – “Audio Money”
- IVD & Zlatan – “Bolanle”
- Olamide – “Pawon”
Best Collabo
- “Know You” – Ladipoe ft Simi – Winner
- “Nobody” – DJ Neptune ft Joeboy, Mr Eazi
- “Sweet in the middle” – Davido ft Naira Marley, Zlatan & Wurld
- “Totori” – ID Cabasa ft Wizkid, Olamide
- “Get the Info” – Phyno ft Phenom, Falz
Lyricist on the Roll
- A-Q – “Eunice”
- Blaqbonez – “Define Rap 2”
- M.I Abaga – “Trinity”
- Illbliss – “Country”- Winner
- Phenom – “Get the Info”
- Phyno – “Speak Life”
Song of the Year
- “FEM” – Davido
- “Nobody” – DJ Neptune ft Joeboy, Mr Eazi
- “Joro” – Wizkid
- “Mafo” – Naira Marley
- “Duduke” – Simi – Winner
Best Recording of the Year
- “Ozymandias”– Brymo – Winner
- “Smile” – Wizkid ft H.E.R.
- “Wonderful” – Burna Boy
- “Dreamer” – Fireboy DML
- “Ghost Town” – Wurld
Album of the Year
- African Giant – Burna Boy
- Apollo – Fireboy DML – Winner
- Afro Pop Vol. 1 – Adekunle Gold
- Yellow – Brymo
- Boo of the Booless – Chike
Artiste of the Year
- Burna Boy
- Davido
- Wizkid – Winner
- Mayorkun
- Tiwa Savage
Producer of the Year
- Pheelz – “Billionaire” by Teni – Winner
- SPAX – “Away” by Oxlade
- Kel P – “Pull Up” by Burna Boy
- Sarz – “Mad” by Sarz, Wurld
Best Music Video
- “Eli” by Fireboy DML – Clarence Peters
- “1 Milli” by Davido – Director K- Winner
- “Smile” by Wizkid – Meji Alabi
- “Billionaire” by Teni – TG Omori
- “Shekere” by Yemi Alade – Ovie Etseyatse
Next Rated
- Tems
- Omah Lay – Winner
- Oxlade
- Bella Shmurda
African Artiste Recognition
- South Africa Master KG – Winner
- Ghana Kuami Eugene
- Kenya Sauti Sol
- Ghana Shatta Wale
- Ghana Stonebwoy
Viewer’s Choice
- Davido
- Omah Lay
- Burna Boy
- Falz
- Fireboy DML
- Mayorkun
- DJ Neptune
- Wizkid – Winner
Songwriter of the Year
- Simisola Bolatito Ogunleye – “Duduke” by Simi – Winner
- Adedamola Adefolahan – “Dreamer” by Fireboy DML
- Damini Ogulu – “Way too big” by Burna Boy
- Stanley Omah Didia – “Bad Influence” by Omah Lay
- Sadiq Onifade – “Ghost Town” by Wurld
- Adekunle Kosoko – “1 Milli” by Davido
Best Alternative Album
- Yellow – Brymo
- Lucid – Aṣa
- The Light – Bez
- Pioneers – DRB LasGidi
- Roots – The Cavemen – Winner
Best Alternative Song
- “Corner” – Lady Donli ft VanJess, The Cavemen
- “I wonder” – Moelogo – Winner
- “Bitter” – Deena Ade
- “Anita” – The Cavemen
- “Money Devotion” – Gbasky
- “God Save The Queen” – Olu
Rookie of the Year
- Olakira
- Alpha P
- Jamopyper
- Zinoleesky
- Bad Boy Timz – Winner
Hip Hop World Revelation of the Year
- Victor AD
- Fireboy DML – Winner
- Joeboy
- Teni
- Rema
- Chike
Special Recognition Award Headies Hall of Fame
- Eedris Abdulkareem – Winner
- Timaya
Headies Hall of Fame
King Sunny Ade
By Elijah Christopher
Elijah Christopher is a journalist at A New Touch Of Africa, is also a creative writer, a poet, and an IT enthusiast. He contributed to the collaborative poem written in celebration of Edwin Morgan Centenary, the first Glasgow poet laureate and Scottish national poet from the University of Glasgow. He loves meeting people and learning about new places, cultures, events, and lifestyles.
