The 14th Headies award aired with a bang on Sunday, February 21, 2020, live on HipTV for its very first virtual edition. It was hosted by Nancy Isime and Bovi, and we couldn’t have asked for a better pair.
Fireboy was the biggest winner of the night as he walked home with five wins from his eight nominations: Best Pop Album, Album of the Year, Best R&B Single, R&B Album of the Year and Revelation of the Year.
Wizkid won two awards for Artiste of the Year and Headies’ Viewer’s Choice Award. DJ Neptune also took home two nods for his smash hit ‘Nobody’ for the categories – Best Pop Single and Song of the Year. Several artistes like Simi, Niniola, Falz, Brymo, The Cavemen and Ladipoe also took home awards for themselves.
Omah Lay won the coveted ‘Next Rated’ award and Bad Boy Timz won ‘Rookie of The Year’. Simi won the first-ever Headies award for ‘Songwriter of The Year’ for her song ‘Duduke’ which was a smash hit, and a regular on rotation since its release. She also won ‘Best Collab’ for the record ‘Know You’ with Ladipoe.
The ceremony was highlighted with special recognition to Eedris Abdulkareem for his contributions to the music industry. The living legend, Chief Ebenezer Obey, was inducted into the Hall Of Fame for his outstanding impact on the entertainment industry. His grandson accepted the award on his behalf.
Here are the winners in all 25 categories which covers different genres of Nigerian pop music culture.
1. BEST RECORDING OF THE YEAR
OZYMANDIAS – BRYMO (WINNER)
SMILE – WIZKID FEAT. HER
WONDERFUL – BURNA BOY
DREAMER – FIREBOY DML
GHOST TOWN – WURLD
2. 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
3. BEST RAP ALBUM
GOD’S ENGINEERING – AQ (WINNER)
ILLY CHAPO X – ILLBLISS
YPSZN2 – PSYCHO YP
CULT! – PAYBAC IBORO
THE ERIGMA II – ERIGGA
4. BEST R&B ALBUM
LAUGHTER, TEARS AND GOOSEBUMPS – FIREBOY DML (WINNER)
I LIKE GIRLS WITH TROBUL – SARZ & WURLD
KING – PRAIZ
BOO OF THE BOOLESS – CHIKE
CELIA – TIWA SAVAGE
5. BEST ALTERNATIVE ALBUM
YELLOW – BRYMO
LUCID – ASA
THE LIGHT – BEZ
PIONEERS – DRB LASGIDI
ROOTS – THE CAVEMEN (WINNER)
6. BEST POP ALBUM
APOLLO – FIREBOY DML (WINNER)
AFRICAN GIANT – BURNA BOY
A GOOD TIME – DAVIDO
WOMAN OF STEEL – YEMI ALADE
AFRO POP VOL. 1 – ADEKUNLE GOLD
7. BEST MUSIC VIDEO
ELI – FIREBOY BY CLARENCE PETERS
1 MILLI – DAVIDO BY DIRECTOR K (WINNER)
SMILE – WIZKID BY MEJI ALABI
BILLIONAIRE – TENI BY TG OMORI
SHEKERE – YEMI ALADE BY OVIE ETSEYATSE
8. BEST R&B SINGLE
UNDER THE SKY – PRAIZ
DUDUKE – SIMI
MAD – SARZ & WURLD
BAD INFLUENCE – OMAH LAY
TATTOO – FIREBOY DML (WINNER)
DANGEROUS LOVE – TIWA SAVAGE
9 . BEST COLLABO
KNOW YOU – LADIPOE FEAT. SIMI (WINNER)
NOBODY – DJ NEPTUNE FEAT. JOEBOY & MR. EAZI
SWEET IN THE MIDDLE – DAVIDO FEAT. NAIRA MARLEY, ZLATAN & WURLD
DON’T CALL ME BACK – JOEBOY FEAT. MAYORKUN
TOTORI – ID CABASA FEAT. WIZKID & OLAMIDE
GET THE INFO – PHYNO FEAT. PHENOM & FALZ
10. BEST RAP SINGLE
OGB4IG – REMINISCE
SHUT UP – BLAQBONEZ
COUNTRY – ILLBLISS
GET THE INFO – PHYNO, FALZ & PHENOM
BOP DADDY – FALZ FEAT. MS. BANKS (WINNER)
11. BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE (MALE)
WURLD – GHOST TOWN
CHIKE – FORGIVE
PRAIZ – UNDER THE SKY (WINNER)
COHBAMS – PLENTI
NONSO AMADI – WHAT MAKES YOU SURE
JOHNNY DRILLE – COUNT ON YOU
12. 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
13. HEADIES REVELATION
VICTOR AD
FIREBOY DML (WINNER)
JOEBOY
TENI
REMA
CHIKE
14. LYRICIST ON THE ROLL
AQ – EUNICE
BLAQBONEZ – DEFINE RAP 2
MI ABAGA – TRINITY
ILL BLISS – COUNTRY (WINNER)
PHENOM – GET THE INFO
PHYNO – SPEAK LIFE
15. BEST STREET-HOP ARTISTE
NAIRA MARLEY & YOUNG JOHN – MAFO
MAYORKUN – GENG (WINNER)
REMINISCE FEAT. OLAMIDE & NAIRA MARLEY – INSTAGRAM
RUDEBOY – AUDIO MONEY
IVD & ZLATAN – BOLANLE
OLAMIDE – PAWON
16. BEST ‘ALTERNATIVE’ SONG
CORNER – LADY DONLI FEAT. VANJESS & THE CAVEMEN
I WONDER – MOELOGO (WINNER)
BITTER – DEENA ADE
ANITA – THE CAVEMEN
MONEY DEVOTION – GBASKY
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN – OLU
17. 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
18. AFRICAN ARTISTE RECOGNITION
MASTER KG (WINNER)
KUAMI EUGENE
SAUTI SOL
SHAATA WALE
STONEBWOY
19. HEADIES’ VIEWER’S CHOICE
DAVIDO
OMAH LAY
BURNA BOY
FALZ
FIREBOY DML
MAYORKUN
DJ NEPTUNE
WIZKID (WINNER)
20. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
OLAKIRA
ALPHA P
JAMOPYPER
ZINOLEESKY
BAD BOY TIMZ (WINNER)
21. BEST POP SINGLE
BILLIONAIRE – TENI
NOBODY – DJ NEPTUNE FEAT. JOEBOY & MR. EAZI (WINNER)
LADY – REMA
FEM – DAVIDO
JORO – WIZKID
SKELETUN – TEKNO
22. SONG OF THE YEAR
FEM – DAVIDO
NOBODY – DJ NEPTUNE FEAT. JOEBOY & MR. EAZI (WINNER)
JORO – WIZKID
MAFO – NAIRA MARLEY
DUDUKE – SIMI
23. NEXT RATED
TEMS
OMAH LAY (WINNER)
OXLADE
BELLA SHMURDA
24. ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
BURNA BOY
DAVIDO
WIZKID (WINNER)
MAYORKUN
TIWA SAVAGE
25. SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
SIMISOLA BOLATITO OGUNLEYE (SIMI – DUDUKE) (WINNER)
ADEDAMOLA ADEFOLAHAN (FIREBOY DML DML – DREAMER)
DAMINI OGULU (BURNA BOY – WAY TOO BIG)
STANLEY OMAH DIDIA (OMAH LAY – BAD INFLUENCE)
SADIQ ONIFADE (WURLD – GHOST TOWN)
ADEKUNLE KOSOKO (1 MILLION – DAVIDO)
26. SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Eedris Abdulkareem
27. HALL OF FAME
Chief Ebenezer Obey
