By Chinedu Echianu
Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Rema, Asake, Ayra Starr and Tems are among the leading Nigerian artistes nominated for the 2026 Headies Awards, with established stars and emerging acts competing across several major categories.
The organisers of the prestigious awards unveiled the nominees ahead of the ceremony, which is scheduled to hold in Canada as the Headies continues its international expansion.
The nominations cut across Afrobeats, R&B, alternative music, hip-hop, inspirational music and other categories, reflecting the diversity of Nigeria’s contemporary music industry.
Among the notable nominations are Ayra Starr’s “Hot Body”, Fido’s “Joy Is Coming”, and “Hey Jago” by Poco Lee, Shoday and Rahman Jago.
Asake and Wizkid’s “MMS” is also in contention, while Davido and Omah Lay earned a nomination for their collaboration, “With You”.
In the Afrobeats Single of the Year category, nominees include Rema’s “Fun”, Asake and Wizkid’s “Jogodo”, and Shallipopi’s “Laho”.
The Best Performer (Live) category features Adekunle Gold for Live at the National Theatre, Lagos; Asake for Red Bull Symphonic; Ayra Starr for the Global Citizen Festival 2025; Johnny Drille for Johnny’s Room Live 6; and Ruger for his 2025 performance at Indigo at The O2 in London.
Tems’ Love Is a Kingdom is among the nominees for Best R&B Album, alongside Kunmie’s Before We Became Strangers, Fola’s Catharsis, Qing Madi’s I Am the Blueprint, Tay Iwar’s Reflection Station and Tiwa Savage’s This One Is Personal.
For Best Recording of the Year, nominees include Kunmie’s “Arike”, How Do You?’s “Amaeya”, Rema’s “Baby (Is It a Crime)”, Omah Lay and Elmah’s “Coping Mechanism”, Davido and Omah Lay’s “With You”, and Fola’s “You”.
The Afrobeats Album of the Year category pits Davido’s 5ive, BNXN’s Captain, Omah Lay’s Clarity of Mind, Adekunle Gold’s Fuji, Wizkid’s Morayo and Burna Boy’s No Sign of Weakness against one another.
The Digital Artiste of the Year nominees include Asake, Ayra Starr, BNXN, Chella, Fola, Mavo, Seyi Vibez and Wizkid, while Fido, Fola, Llona, Mavo and Shoday are competing for Next Rated.
In the Best Female Artiste category, Ayra Starr, Qing Madi, Sewa, Tems, Teni and Tiwa Savage received nominations, while the Best Male Artiste category features Adekunle Gold, Asake, Fola, Mavo, Rema, Wizkid and Burna Boy.
The Best Headies Collaboration category includes Poco Lee, Shoday and Rahman Jago’s “Hey Jago”; Fola and Kizz Daniel’s “Lost”; Odumodublvck and Victony’s “Pity This Boy”; Davido and Omah Lay’s “With You”; and Mr Eazi and King Promise’s “See What We’ve Done”.
International representation is also prominent, with Ciara, Dave, Gunna, Jazmine Sullivan, Shenseea and Tiakola nominated for International Artiste of the Year.
The African regional categories feature several prominent artistes.
The West African Artiste category includes Ghana’s Black Sherif, KiDi, King Promise, Moliy and Stonebwoy, alongside Côte d’Ivoire’s Himra and Senegal’s Wally B. Seck.
The East African Artiste nominees include Tanzania’s Abigail Chams and Harmonize, Kenya’s Bien, Rwanda’s Bruce Melodie and Uganda’s Joshua Baraka.
The North African Artiste category features Tunisia’s Balti, Morocco’s Dystinct, Egypt’s Marwan Moussa and Tul8te, and Algeria’s Soolking.
For Central African Artiste, nominees include Fally Ipupa, Ferré Gola, Héritier Watanabe and Innoss’B of the Democratic Republic of Congo, alongside Hiro of DR Congo and Cameroon’s Locko.
Other major categories include Producer of the Year, where Magicsticks, P.Priime, Ragee, Sarz and Tempoe are nominated.
The Viewers’ Choice category features Ayra Starr’s “Hot Body”, Davido and Omah Lay’s “With You”, Rema’s “Baby (Is It a Crime)”, Fola’s “You”, Wizkid and Asake’s “Jogodo”, Kunmie’s “Arike” and Mavo and Wavestar’s “Escaladizzy”.
The awards will also recognise songwriting and lyrical talent, with Adekunle Gold, Victony, Wizard Chan, Fola, Kunmie and Amaeya nominated for Writer of the Year.
The Lyricist on the Roll category includes Blaqbonez, Dremo, Modenine, PDSTRN and Ycee.
Emerging talents are also strongly represented in the Rookie of the Year category, which features Amma, Danpapa Gta, Firstklaz, Kidd Carder, No11, Priesst and OG Abbah.
The 2026 nominations highlight the continued dominance of established Nigerian stars while providing a platform for a new generation of artistes making their mark on the country’s music scene.
The Headies, one of Nigeria’s most prominent music awards, is expected to attract significant attention as the ceremony takes its latest edition to Canada.
