8 unforgettable moments in the Headies history

By Jimmy

Ever since its inception, the Headies Award has given us several unforgettable moments that capture the ascension of Afrobeats while also underlining the award’s importance.

The Headies aims to recognize phenomenal achievements and talents within the music industry. It is broadcast live on HipTV annually and features performances by both established and upcoming artists.

However, a look into the illustrious history of the Headies Awards will bring back memories that qualify the good, the bad, and sadly, the ugly side of Nigeria’s biggest prize in music.

Hence, in the spirit of Afrobeats throwback, we will be revisiting eight unforgettable moments in the history of the Headies Award.

8. Wizkid snubbing Caeser (Eva Alordiah’s Ex-Fiancee) at the 2016 Headies

Nigerian megastar Wizkid made a surprise appearance at the 2016 Headies mid-way into the award. As he made his way to the front row, he paused to greet some colleagues. He stopped to hug Eva before pulling off one of the biggest snubs in Nigerian Television by walking past Caeser’s whose outstretched hand was extended to him.

The spectacle created a stir online as Caeser’s hanging hand became a meme. Wizkid would later apologize to Caeser and describe the snub as unintentional. However, this excuse didn’t fly with the majority.

SEE: The Headies: All you need to know about Nigeria’s biggest music award show

7. Burna Boy walking out after Sean Tizzle won the Next Rated Prize in 2013

The Next Rated category is by far the most keenly contested prize at the Headies because of its significance. It can go a long way to make a young artiste’s career.

In 2013, Burna Boy, Sean Tizzle, Phyno, Dammy Krane, and Seyi Shay contested the award for the next big thing in the Nigerian music industry.

Sean Tizzle beat the fans’ favorite Burna Boy to the award and the loss didn’t quite go well with Burna Boy, who stormed out of the Oriental hotel as Sean Tizzle was announced as the winner and allegedly told photographers not to take photos of him.

Fast-forward ten years later, and Burna is now a household name with Grammy nominations. Whereas Sean Tizzle is… well, he’s there.

6. Burna Boy falling off the stage in 2013

In 2013, actress Tonto Dike a.k.a. Poko decided to try her luck in music and released some auto-tune-laden hits that had people advising her to just stick with acting. Burna Boy was one of the critics, and even though his tweets about wack artistes who go about releasing noisy wackiness and how death is the least such people deserve weren’t directly aimed at her, it wasn’t that hard to connect the dots.

Jump forward a few nights later. While performing his hit track Like to Party, Burna Boy fell off the stage. Karma sure has a sense of humour.

5. D’Banj performing with a towel in 2005 and Bovi recreated it a decade later

Back in 2005, D’banj was one of the hottest artists in Nigeria with his smash hit single ‘Why Me’ sweeping across the country. The superstar had a bold and infectious personality which he used to dazzle his plethora of female fans while also distinguishing himself as a class act.

At the 2005 Headies Awards, D’banj performed his hit single ‘Why Me’ with only a towel around his waist like he’d just come straight from the bathroom. His choice of costume puzzled the audience just as his performance dazzled them.

READ: 9 times Rihanna stunned the world

10 years later, when comedian Bovi stepped onto the Headies stage with a towel, viewers old enough to get the joke needed no explanation.

4. Wande Coal winning five Headies at the 2010 Headies Awards

At the 2010 Headies Awards, Mohits act Wande Coal exceeded the expectations of his Next Rated win the previous year by carting away 5 awards.

Wande Coal’s ‘Mushin to Mohits’ album was nominated for 7 awards out of which only two slipped through his grasp. On a historic night, the Black Diamond took home the award for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, R&B Album of the Year, and Hip Hop Revelation of the Year.

3. Fireboy matching Wande Coal’s 5 awards haul in 2019

Nine years after Wande Coal’s historic haul, Fireboy came along to make history at the 2020 Headies Award.

After losing out on the Headies Next Rated Award a year earlier, Fireboy made an emphatic statement at the 2020 Headies with a record 9 nominations, out of which he won 5. It was a sensational and incredibly difficult feat to pull off, which makes it one of the unforgettable moments in the Headies’ history.

And it was made even more unforgettable because Fireboy was inexplicably omitted from the Artist of the Year nominees.

Wizkid’s O2 Concert clashing with the 2019 Headies Awards

In 2019, Wizkid’s sold-out show in London’s O2 arena clashed with the Headies Awards. Unfortunately, the show won the night with a majority of the big names opting for Wizkid’s O2 show.

That night was a painful one for the Headies which was trying to rebrand its image after years of disrespect from fans and artistes. The concert torpedoed the Headies Show with Naira Marley‘s leg-work becoming the most talked about topic that night.

The Headies would go above and beyond to avoidOlamide and Don Jazzy Faceoff at the 2015 Headies a repeat the following year by securing Wizkid’s very special appearance at the 2020 Headies Awards.

2. Bovi wearing an attire with the Nigerian flag covered in blood at the 2020 Headies

In 2020, Nigerian comedian Bovi wore a shirt with a large image of the Nigerian flag covered in blood. This was in honor of the October 2020 END SARS protest that swept across the country and left several dead.

The picture generated conversations online with the majority of the youths applauding his courage and grace. However, some government proponents were displeased by Bovi’s bold statement and claimed he committed an offense by defacing the country’s image.

READ: 5 Nigerian albums that turned 10 in 2023

1. Olamide and Don Jazzy Faceoff at the 2015 Headies

This is by far the most unforgettable event in Headies History as it didn’t only break Nigeria’s internet, it dealt the Headies Awards a nasty blow they are yet to fully recover from.

In 2015, Reekado Banks of Mavin Records and Lil Kesh of YBNL were both nominated for the Next-Rated Award, and Reekado Banks ended up winning it. This turned out to be a sour moment for YBNL boss Olamide, who felt his disciple should have won it.

Unwilling to let it go, Olamide took to the stage with his whole YBNL team when his artist eAdekunle Gold won the award for Best Alternative Act for his song Shade. While expressing his appreciation, Lil Kesh prostrated before Olamide, who then collected the mic, and said; “Lil Kesh is our own Next Rated artist. Fk that sh*t! The streets ti take over. Every fking single was a hit back to back. From Lyrically, to Shoki to Efejoku. Ko ni dafun Iya anybody.” (please hire a Yoruba person to translate).

He then did a mic drop and further compounded the insult by throwing away his cup with its content spewing on stage as he and his crew walked away.

Shots fired!

Don Jazzy won The Special Recognition Award and, in his vote of thanks, reacted to Olamide’s diatribe by saying, “I came out here to support my children. Reekado Banks was performing at Ali Baba’s show as they were trying to present the award. I have already told my children that I will buy cars for all of them.

Then he poured salt in the injury by adding, “Egbon Olamide, if you want the car, come and collect it.” This was a reference to the fact that the 2015 Headies Next Rated Artiste Award winner went home with a Hyundai SUV car.

Quite predictably, Olamide went crazy and came for Don Jazzy on Twitter. He declared open war by ripping into him on how Don treated the artistes under his label, making references to how the Mavin’s boss and D’banj parted ways. In one of these tweets, he went as far as telling Don Jazzy not to come to the Mainland; a warning that brought to mind a deja vu of what started the bloody feud between late Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG.

However, they soon settled their feud, and nobody got slapped to boot, so all glory be to God!

Surely, when the question of the most unforgettable moments in Headies history is asked, the infamous 2015 Olamide Vs Don Jazzy squabble will always come to mind.