Afrogospel artiste and culture architect Gaise Baba has penned an open letter to The Headies days after the nomination list for the 18th edition was unveiled.
In the letter, dated August 28, 2026, he challenges the premier African music awards body over its treatment of faith-based music. In addition, he challenges its handling of the Inspirational category in 2025.
The Headies 2026 Nomination
The Headies released the full list of nominees for the 2026 awards on August 25, with the ceremony scheduled for Toronto, Canada, in October. 
Among the nominees in the Best Inspirational Single category is Gaise Baba’s “No Turning Back 2” (featuring Lawrence Oyor). Others are singles by Mercy Chinwo, Sinach, Lawrence Oyor, Sunmisola Agbebi, and EmmaOMG.
The release of the nomination list makes Gaise Baba’s letter timely and gives direct context, as he is once again a nominee in the same category whose previous handling he is criticising.
SEE ALSO: 2026 Headies Nominations: Burna Boy, WizKid, Davido, Others Top Nominees’ List
“A Rap Record is a Rap Record”
Gaise Baba began the letter by tracing his relationship with The Headies back to 2012. He first attended while signed to Sanctified Records and performed at the nominees’ party.
While acknowledging that The Headies remains the most active music awards body outside Nigeria, he points out that the open letter is “not a complaint from the outside”. Gaise Baba says it is “a push from someone within” who wants the institution to function better.
The core of Gaise Baba’s argument is that faith-based music should be judged on artistic merit rather than confined to a token category.
“A rap record is a rap record,” he writes. “It does not stop being rap because of what the artiste chose to rap about… The craft, pen game, cadence, delivery, and the flow are what make it a rap record, not the subject matter,” he added.
Headies 2025, Disregard to the Creatives Involved
He specifically revisits his experience at the awards ceremony held the previous year.
In 2025, he was nominated in the Inspirational category for “Particularly” (featuring Tope Alabi). Other nominees in the category included Anendlessocean, Mercy Chinwo, Dunsin Oyekan, and Limoblaze.
He noted that he and his team honoured the Headies’ invitation to the media rounds, pre-award reception, and the ceremony itself. They showed up in person too. However, the category was never called on stage.
The award was not presented in front of the audience or the nominees who had shown up. Gaise Baba describes this as disregard.
He referred to how African artists once protested the absence of the Best African Performance category on the Grammy stage, arguing that if it was valid then, his complaint is valid now as well. Gaise Baba says every category deserves its moment on stage.
“That, to me, is disregard to the creatives involved. The Inspirational category wasn’t the only one left uncalled; the same disregard applies to every other category affected. Thirty categories can be called on a night that stretched beyond five hours.”
SEE ALSO: The Headies are Moving to Canada, and Nigerians Aren’t Happy
The Cultural Impact Question to The Headies and the Public
Gaise Baba ends the open letter to The Headies with a challenge aimed at both the organisers and public.
To the organizers, he asks:
“If a song that explores sexual desire and the objectification of a woman’s body is celebrated for its artistic value and allowed full sway in the industry’s ocean, why should the one on faith be restricted to an aquarium?”
To the public:
“How many records released in the year under review had greater “cultural impact” across the length and breadth of this country and maybe even beyond than “Favor” or “No Turning Back II”?
“Shall we count?” he asks.
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