The Headies, Africa’s entertainment awards, has pitted superstars Wizkid and Burna Boy against each other in the Album of the Year category.
Headies released its nominations list ahead of its 18th edition scheduled to hold on Oct. 25 in Toronto, Canada.
The organisers said this in a statement released on Tuesday in Lagos.
The 2026 edition has 213 nominations across 35 categories, recognising artistes and music projects released between Aug. 1, 2024 and April 30, 2026.
Fola leads the nominations with 10 nods, including Album of the Year, Next Rated, Songwriter of the Year and Best Male Artiste, following the release of his debut album, ‘Catharisis’
Omah Lay follows with eight nominations, while Mavo and Wizkid secured seven nominations each.
Asake and Davido received six nominations apiece, while Ayra Starr and Tiwa Savage emerged as the female artistes with the highest number of nominations, with five each.
Breakout artiste Kunmie also secured five nominations, including Song of the Year for his single, “Arike”.
Adekunle Gold, Odumodublvck and Shoday also received five nominations each.
Davido and Omah Lay’s ‘With You’ emerged as the most-nominated song, featuring in six categories, including Recording of the Year, Music Video, Best Collaboration, Afrobeats Single, Viewers’ Choice and Song of the Year.
The Next Rated category features Fido, Fola, Llona, Mavo, Shoday and Zaylevelten, while the Rookie of the Year category includes Amma, Danpapa GTA, FirstKlaz, Kidd Carder, NO11, Priesst and OG Abbah.
The Album of the Year category features ‘Catharsis’ by Fola, ‘Clarity of Mind’ by Omah Lay, ‘G.O.A.T’ by Erigga, ‘Morayo’ by Wizkid, ‘No Sign of Weakness’ by Burna Boy, ‘The Machine is Coming’ by Odumodublvck and ‘This is Personal’ by Tiwa Savage.
The organisers said in the statement that artistes in the alternative genre also featured prominently in the general categories, while the regional awards had been extended to 16 African countries.
They added that the ceremony would also feature categories for International Artiste of the Year and Best Canadian/African Diaspora Artiste.
Also, legendary Congolese artiste, Awilo Longomba is expected to receive the Headies Hall of Fame Award, while Cecil Hammond will be honoured with the Special Recognition Award for his contributions to African entertainment.
NAN reports that the 18th Headies has the theme “Africa to the World” and will hold on Oct. 25 in Toronto, Canada.
