Nigerian heavyweight singers Burna Boy and Asake have been nominated the most at the 2023 Headies Awards.
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.
The 16th Headies Awards is set to be a highly anticipated event, with Burna Boy, Asake, Kizz Daniel, Rema, Omah Lay and others leading the pack with the highest number of nominations. These talented artists have undoubtedly made a significant impact on the Nigerian music scene, and their recognition at the Headies further solidifies their status as industry frontrunners.
As expected, the year in review for its 16th edition starts from January 2022 to March 2023; hence, only musical content released within this time period were nominated. Following a fantastic run from 2022 until now, Burna Boy and Asake lead the pack with eleven and nine nominations, respectively.
Grammy-award winning superstar Burna Boy released his seventh studio album Love, Damini in the calendar year, which had smash tunes like Kilometre, For My Hand, which features Ed Sheeran, and the global monster tune Last Last, which was described by many as the summer jam of 2022. The Afro-fusion artist who has been on the road for the longest bagged a total of eleven nominations, including best recording of the year, songwriter of the year, best collaboration, Afrobeats single of the year, among others.
YBNL and Empire signee Asake was expected to be part of the pack after dropping his debut EP, Ololade Asake, and his chart-topping Mr. Money With The Vibe in the calendar year. Smash tunes like Terminator, Omo Ope, Sungba, Trabaye, Organise, PBUY, and more came from these projects. The neo-fuji act bagged a total of nine nominations, including Best Collaboration, Best Street-Hop Artist, Song of the Year, Best Male Artist, Next Rated, and a slew of others.
Other Nigerian acts that were well recognised in the nomination list include Afro-classic singer Kizz Daniel, who received five nominations. Buzzing Mavin Records global star Rema also got five nominations, as did Omah Lay and vocal powerhouse and songstress Simi.
New cats, Ayra Starr, Oxlade, Pheelz, and Victony, were nominated in four categories. Interestingly, Davido got two nominations, while Wizkid surprisingly didn’t get any nominations.