Headies 2026: Full List of Nominees and Categories

The nominees for the 18th Headies Awards have been announced, including emerging talents and notable artistes from across Africa and the diaspora.

FOLA leads the nominations with 10 nods, followed by Omah Lay with 8. Mavo and Wizkid each earned 7 nominations, while Davido and Asake are also among the leading contenders. The nominations recognise music released between August 1, 2024, and April 30, 2026.

Themed “Africa to the World”, the 18th Headies features 35 award categories spanning Afrobeats, R&B, rap, alternative music, and regional African music.

The awards’ Toronto finale has since been rescheduled to April 10–11, 2027, according to the official Headies website.

Headies 2026: Full List of Nominees

1. Rookie of the Year

• Amma
• Danpapa GTA
• Firstklaz
• Kidd Carder
• NO11
• Priesst
• OG Abbah

2. Best Recording of the Year

• “Arike” — Kunmie
• “Baby (Is It a Crime)” — Rema
• “Coping Mechanism” — Omah Lay featuring Elmah
• “How Do You?” — Amaeya
• “With You” — Davido featuring Omah Lay
• “You” — FOLA

3. Songwriter of the Year

• Adekunle Kosoko (Adekunle Gold) — “Many People”
• Anthony Ebuka Victor (Victony) — “Cough Syrup” with BNXN
• Fuayefika Maxwell (Wizard Chan) — “Time Traveler”
• Odunlami Afolarin Temiloluwa (FOLA) — “Who Does That?”
• Oluwabukunmi Ariyibi Peter (Kunmie) — “Arike”
• Peace Chidinma Amaefula (Amaeya) — “How Do You?”

4. Best R&B Single

• “6:35” — Layefa
• “How Do You?” — Amaeya
• “I Love You” — Amma
• “What You Need” — Tems
• “Winter & Summer” — Magixx
• “You4Me” — Tiwa Savage

5. Best Rap Single

• “2:02 PM in London” — ODUMODUBLVCK
• “ACL” — Blaqbonez
• “Man2Man” — Dremo
• “Moshood” — PDSTRN
• “Nkemakonam” — Tuff King
• “Wuse Tu” — Zaylevelten and Mavo
• “John Wick” — Zhus Jdo

6. Best Alternative Song

• “CYK Baddie” — Luwa.mp4 featuring Jeleel!
• “Lagos Lovin” — Sewà
• “Oliver” — Wizard Chan
• “Omo to Sexy” — Binde
• “Prada Baby” — WAVE$TAR
• “Sweet Danger” — Obongjayar
• “Summer Adina” — Chief Priest featuring BoyPee and Zoro Swagbag

7. Best Vocal Performance (Female)

• “6:35” — Layefa
• “How Do You?” — Amaeya
• “Lagos Lovin” — Sewà
• “Scum Bag” — Qing Madi
• “Skin to Skin” — Liya
• “You4Me” — Tiwa Savage

8. Best Vocal Performance (Male)

• “I’m Not Done” — Adekunle Gold
• “Orente” — Flavour
• “Winter and Summer” — Magixx
• “Patience” — Odeal
• “Love Egbugomo” — Syemca
• “Bad Belle” — Tay Iwar

9. Best R&B Album

• Before We Became Strangers — Kunmie
• Catharsis — FOLA
• I Am the Blueprint — Qing Madi
• Love Is a Kingdom — Tems
• Reflection Station — Tay Iwar
• This One Is Personal — Tiwa Savage

10. Best Alternative Album

• Afrika Magik — SDC
• Detox — Sewà
• Duplicity — BOJ
• Healers Chapel — Wizard Chan
• Olorin Pack — Scottyolorin
• Then 1t Got Crazy — Zaylevelten

11. Producer of the Year

• Magicsticks — “Jogodo” and Real, Vol. 1 by Asake and Wizkid
• P.Priime — “MMS” by Asake and Wizkid, “Baby (Is It a Crime)” by Rema, and “Billionaires Club” by Olamide, Darkoo and Wizkid
• RAGEE — “Hot Body” by Ayra Starr
• Sarz — “Hot Body” by Ayra Starr and “Who’s Dat Girl” by Ayra Starr featuring Rema
• Tempoe — “With You” by Davido featuring Omah Lay and “SMH” by Joeboy

12. Music Video of the Year

• Director Pink — “10 Kilo” by Davido
• Dammy Twitch — “With You” by Davido
• TG Omori — “Afroculture” by Flavour featuring Baaba Maal
• Jyde Ajala — Wizard Chan’s “Kai”
• DK — “Bundle by Bundle” by Burna Boy
• Meji Alabi — “Who’s Dat Girl” by Ayra Starr featuring Rema

13. Best Collaboration

• CKay featuring Mavo — “Body (Danz)”
• Mavo featuring WAVE$TAR — “Escaladizzy”
• Poco Lee, Shoday and Rahman Jago — “Hey Jago”
• FOLA featuring Kizz Daniel — “Lost”
• ODUMODUBLVCK featuring Victony — “Pity This Boy”
• Davido featuring Omah Lay — “With You”
• Mr Eazi and King Promise — “See What We’ve Done”
• Chief Priest featuring Spyki — “Finally”

14. Best Street-Hop Artiste

• Famous Pluto — “Na Scra”
• Kashcoming — “All My Money”
• Poco Lee featuring Shoday and Rahman Jago — “Hey Jago”
• Seyi Vibez — “Shaolin”
• Shallipopi — “Laho”
• Tuff King — “Nkemakonam”
• Rybeena featuring Shoday — “Gaddem”

15. Afrobeats Single of the Year

• “Fun” — Rema
• “Jogodo” — Asake and Wizkid
• “Laho” — Shallipopi
• “With You” — Davido featuring Omah Lay
• “You” — FOLA
• “Bundle by Bundle” — Burna Boy

16. Lyricist on the Roll

• Blaqbonez — “ACL”
• Dremo — “Man2Man”
• Modenine — “If You Like Gym” with ODUMODUBLVCK
• PDSTRN — “Moshood”
• Ycee — “Man2Man (Ycee Remix)” with Dremo

17. Best Inspirational Single

• “Amioluwa” — Sunmisola Agbebi featuring Yinka Okeleye
• “Favour” — Lawrence Oyor
• “Idinma (You Are Good)” — Sinach
• “Korin Iyin (I Will Praise You)” — EmmaOMG
• “No Turning Back 2” — Gaise Baba featuring Lawrence Oyor
• “We Move” — Mercy Chinwo

18. Headies Viewers’ Choice

• Ayra Starr — “Hot Body”
• Davido featuring Omah Lay — “With You”
• Rema — “Baby (Is It a Crime)”
• FOLA — “You”
• Wizkid and Asake — “Jogodo”
• Kunmie — “Arike”
• Mavo featuring WAVE$TAR — “Escaladizzy”

19. Best West African Artiste

• Black Sherif — Ghana
• Himra — Côte d’Ivoire
• KiDi — Ghana
• King Promise — Ghana
• Moliy — Ghana
• Wally B. Seck — Senegal
• Stonebwoy — Ghana

20. Best East African Artiste

• Abigail Chams — Tanzania
• Bien — Kenya
• Bruce Melodie — Rwanda
• Harmonize — Tanzania
• Joshua Baraka — Uganda

21. Best North African Artiste

• Balti — Tunisia
• Dystinct — Morocco
• Marwan Moussa — Egypt
• Soolking — Algeria
• Tul8te — Egypt

22. Best Central African Artiste

• Fally Ipupa — Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Ferré Gola — Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Héritier Watanabe — Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Hiro — Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Innoss’B — Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Locko — Cameroon

23. Best Southern African Artiste

• Ciza
• DJ Maphorisa
• Jazzwrld
• Kabza De Small
• Tyla
• Uncle Waffles

24. Best African Diaspora-Canadian Artiste

• Debby Friday — “Lipsync”
• Tôme — “CC” featuring Alpha P
• Bolu Ajibade — “Diana” with Friyie
• Nonso Amadi — “Dive In”
• Rooky Kamiz — “Deeper”
• Tobi — “Out the Mud”

25. International Artiste of the Year

• Ciara
• Dave
• Gunna
• Jazmine Sullivan
• Shenseea
• Tiakola

26. Best Rap Album

• Black Sheepizen (The 13th Disciple) — Tuff King
• GE3 (The Beginning) — A-Q
• G.O.A.T — Erigga
• King — Jeriq
• No Excuses — Blaqbonez
• The Machine Is Coming — ODUMODUBLVCK

27. Best Original Song for Visual Media

• “All My Love” — Osas Okonyon and Abbey Wonder, from Evi
• “Behind the Scenes” — Funke Akindele and Tolu Obanro, from Behind the Scenes
• “Save Me” — Oscar Heman-Ackah and 2Baba, from To Kill a Monkey
• “Only in Lagos” — WurlD and Liya, from Christmas in Lagos

28. Next Rated

• Fido
• FOLA
• Llona
• Mavo
• Shoday

29. Best Performer (Live)

• Adekunle Gold — Live at the National Theatre, Lagos
• Asake — Red Bull Symphonic
• Ayra Starr — Global Citizen Festival 2025
• Johnny Drille — Johnny’s Room Live 6
• Ruger — Live at Indigo at The O2, London (2025)

30. Digital Artiste of the Year

• Asake
• Ayra Starr
• BNXN
• Chella
• FOLA
• Mavo
• Seyi Vibez
• Wizkid

31. Song of the Year

• “Arike” — Kunmie
• “Hey Jago” — Poco Lee, Shoday and Rahman Jago
• “Hot Body” — Ayra Starr
• “Joy Is Coming” — Fido
• “MMS” — Asake and Wizkid
• “With You” — Davido and Omah Lay

32. Afrobeats Album of the Year

• 5ive — Davido
• Captain — BNXN
• Clarity of Mind — Omah Lay
• Fuji — Adekunle Gold
• Morayo — Wizkid
• No Sign of Weakness — Burna Boy

33. Album of the Year

• Catharsis — FOLA
• Clarity of Mind — Omah Lay
• G.O.A.T — Erigga
• Morayo — Wizkid
• The Machine Is Coming — ODUMODUBLVCK
• This One Is Personal — Tiwa Savage
• No Sign of Weakness — Burna Boy

34. Best Female Artiste

• Ayra Starr
• Qing Madi
• Sewà
• Tems
• Teni
• Tiwa Savage

35. Best Male Artiste

• Adekunle Gold
• Asake
• FOLA
• Mavo
• Rema
• Wizkid
• Burna Boy

Special Honours at the 18th Headies

Beyond the competitive categories, the awards will recognise individuals who have made significant contributions to African entertainment.

Hall of Fame: Awilo Longomba

Congolese music legend Awilo Longomba is set to receive the Hall of Fame honour for his contribution to African music and entertainment.

Special Recognition Award: Cecil Hammond

Nigerian entertainment executive Cecil Hammond is set to receive the Special Recognition Award for his contribution to the entertainment industry.

These honours celebrate lasting industry impact rather than competition within the regular music categories.

When Will the 2026 Headies Awards Hold?

The 18th Headies was initially announced for October 2026 in Toronto, Canada. However, the organisers have since rescheduled the Toronto finale to April 10–11, 2027.

Readers should check the official Headies website for further updates on the programme and event arrangements.

The 2026 Headies nominations reflect a mix of established superstars and emerging voices shaping African music. The Next Rated race is another one to watch, with Fido, FOLA, Llona, Mavo and Shoday competing for one of the ceremony’s most closely followed awards.

Which artiste do you think deserves to win big at the 2026 Headies? Share your predictions in the comments.