Headies awards explained: how voting works, categories and biggest winners

The Headies awards are Nigeria’s best-known music prizes, and every edition starts the same arguments about who deserved to win. Some categories are decided by fans and others by a jury of industry insiders. This guide explains how the Headies awards work: eligibility, voting, the main categories and the biggest winners, plus what to expect from the 18th edition in Toronto. Current as of September 2026.

By Editorial Team

The short answer

• What: an annual music awards show founded in 2006 by Hip Hop World Magazine as the Hip Hop World Awards. It was renamed The Headies in 2011.
• Who decides: there are voting categories, open to the public, and non-voting categories decided by the Headies Academy, an industry panel (Channels Television describes these as judge-decided).
• The weighting: the Headies’ 2025 profile document says public categories combine SMS votes (40%), online votes (30%) and Academy members’ votes (30%), with an audit firm checking the results.
• Biggest winner: Wizkid became the most decorated artist in Headies history in 2022, with 20 awards at the time.
• Next edition: the 18th Headies takes place in Toronto, Canada, in October 2026.

How the Headies awards work: from entry to winner

Each edition opens with a “call for entry” that sets the eligibility period. Only music released in that window can be nominated. For the 18th Headies, the window is unusually long: singles, videos, EPs and albums released on streaming platforms between 1 August 2024 and 30 April 2026, according to the official nominees page. The long window follows a gap between editions: the 17th Headies was held in April 2025.

The Headies’ profile document describes the next stages:

• Selection: the Academy’s research team, together with artists, management companies and record labels, puts forward works for consideration.
• Nominations: the Academy announces nominees in each category. The 2026 list was published on 25 August, with 213 nominations across 35 categories, Channels Television reported.
• Voting: fans vote in the public categories, and Academy members alone decide the non-voting ones.
• Audit: the organisers say a “reputable audit firm” verifies the votes.

The Academy, the profile says, is made up of label executives, DJs, producers, video directors, A&R executives, artist managers, media figures, critics, journalists and data analysts. The Headies has not published a list of members.

Public votes vs the jury

The Headies awards mix fan and expert judgement, which explains a lot of the debate after each show.

• Voting categories: fans vote on the Headies website. The 18th Headies voting page allows “one vote per category, per visitor”. The 2025 profile document also lists SMS voting. In these categories, by the organisers’ published weighting, the public provides 70% of the result (SMS 40% plus online 30%) and the Academy 30%.
• Non-voting categories: decided only by the Academy. On the 2026 list these include Lyricist on the Roll, Best Original Song for Visual Media and Best Performer (Live).
• Fan-only award: Headies Viewers’ Choice is described as “fan-voted”.

We could not find a 2026 update to the 40/30/30 weighting, so treat it as the organisers’ latest published figure rather than a guarantee for this year.

The model sits between other systems we have explained. The Grammys are a pure peer vote by industry members (see how Grammy voting works), while BBNaija evictions are driven entirely by fans.

The main categories

The 18th Headies has 35 categories, according to Channels Television, against the “30+” shown on the Headies website. The ones that get the most attention are:

• Album of the Year and Afrobeats Album of the Year.
• Song of the Year, which the Headies describes as recognising “the greatest cultural impact”.
• Best Recording of the Year, which recognises recording quality and musical execution.
• Next Rated, for the emerging artist “poised for mainstream superstardom”. Past winners include Wizkid, Davido, Rema and Bnxn, and the profile says winners have received cars.
• Rookie of the Year, Best Male Artiste, Best Female Artiste and Digital Artiste of the Year.
• Genre awards for R&B, rap, street-pop, alternative and inspirational music. Our guide to Afrobeats, Afrobeat, Afropop and Amapiano explains the genre labels.
• Regional awards for West, East, North, Central and Southern African artists, an International Artiste of the Year, and, new to the Toronto edition, Best African Diaspora-Canadian Artiste.

The biggest winners

Wizkid holds the record. After winning five awards at the 15th Headies in Atlanta in 2022, he became the most decorated artist in the show’s history with 20 awards, ahead of Olamide with 15, Ripples Nigeria reported. Outlets have since published different running totals, so treat any current all-time count with caution.

Recent ceremonies at a glance:

Sources: Ripples Nigeria (2022), Wikipedia’s Headies page citing Trybe City (2023), Billboard (2025).

The 2025 show had problems. Channels Television reported that technical and scheduling issues meant several categories, including Best Collaboration and Best Rap Album, were not presented on the night. Young Jonn’s “Big Big Things” was among that year’s nominees for Afrobeats Single of the Year and Viewers’ Choice; more on his rise in our Young Jonn Wembley story.

The 18th Headies: what we know

• Leading nominees: Fola has 10 nominations, Omah Lay 8, and Mavo and Wizkid 7 each. Davido and Asake have six, and Ayra Starr and Tiwa Savage lead the women with five each (Channels Television).
• Honours: Awilo Longomba is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and Cecil Hammond will receive the Special Recognition Award.
• Date: the Headies website lists the awards for 23 October 2026 at 9pm in Toronto, which would be 2am WAT on 24 October. Channels Television reported 25 October. Check the official site closer to the date.

It will be the first Headies in Canada, and the third held outside Nigeria after the two Atlanta editions.

What to watch

Watch for any announcement of the voting deadline, the confirmed ceremony date and the winners list, which we will cover. Compare the results with the streaming and radio data on TurnTable charts, and see how the screen industry’s equivalent works in our AMVCA explainer. More in Music and Afrobeats.

Sources

• The Headies: official website
• The Headies: 18th Headies nominees and category descriptions
• The Headies: 18th Headies voting page
• The Headies: profile document (2025), with Academy and voting rules
• Channels Television: 2026 Headies nominations (25 August 2026)
• Billboard: Headies 2025 winners list (29 April 2025)
• Ripples Nigeria: Wizkid becomes most decorated Headies artist (5 September 2022)
• Wikipedia: The Headies (history and venues)

Featured image: Photo: Naija Reality TV / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0