The most prestigious awards show in the country, The Hip Hop World Awards (
A.K.A The Headies), have just released the nominee list for its 2016 edition, its 11
th
installment of the award show. As always with awards in general,
conspiracies and controversies always arise due to the difficult process
and ever talented pool of artistes to pick from in some categories.
I’ll be looking at each category, reviewing and making my predictions on who I think will win come January.
For the full list of nominees, check
HERE.
NEXT RATED: (Ycee, Tekno, Mr. Eazi, Humblesmith, Aramide)
The
most controversial category that gets a lot of people talking and of
course the Headies have done it again. Having the likes of YCee, Tekno
and Mr Eazi on this category is and aberration, but I will try to be a
bit logical and objective with this. Some may argue that the
afore-mentioned trio are way above this category presently and I would
support that argument totally.
Mr Eazi is now signed to star-boy, he is the most featured artiste in Nigeria presently, and also one of the
hottest artistes in Nigeria at the moment.
Ycee recently bagged a Sony deal and is also doing pretty well for himself.
Tekno is without a doubt one of the
top guys
in the Nigerian music right now; dishing out hit tracks back to back to
back. He has also reported a Sony Deal on the way and of course he has
been around for years and stayed very relevant even without an album.
From
an objective point of view and within the period under review (June
’15-July ’16), the Headies could also argue that their profile had not
risen to what it is right now which begs the question: Is the period
under review too far off from the main event? July 2015 – June 2016 is
the period and I think the organizers don’t know that 6months is enough
for things to change for an artiste in this highly saturated industry of
ours. That argument may partially workout for Mr. Eazi and Ycee but for
Tekno? I am not so sure.
Prediction: As it
stands, this award is between YCEE, TEKNO and Mr Eazi with no disrespect
to Humblesmith or Aramide. If what we hear about Tekno rejecting this
nomination is true, then he probably won’t be chosen as the winner. All
things being equal, Tekno should win this clean and clear.
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: (DJ Coublon, Pheelz, LegenduryBeatz, Young John, Masterkraft, Oscar)
This
is an equally impossible category to choose from with several master
beats-men up against each other for the amazing work done on several hit
tracks and body of work we have currently.
Who is missing? It’s difficult to say. Perhaps
Sess,
who I think is still underrated and should have a spot in this
category. His work on Falz’s album which has also earned Falz some
nominations should have meant something.
Predictions:
Legendury Beats won this the last time but I don’t fancy them this time
round. Young John should win this for his work on Mama and others in
the period under review.
BEST RECORDING OF THE YEAR: (Emergency, Orente, Pray For Me, Love don’t care, Something good is happening)
This
is a strong category with top notch songs from the industry Veterans
and the new school raves of the moment. I think this is between
Darey’s pray for me and
Adekunle Gold’s Orente.
Predictions:
I would lean towards a Dare win on this one as ‘he finished work’ with
the help of the Soweto Gospel Choir on the audio and visuals of – Pray
For Me.
BEST MUSIC VIDEO: (Emergency – Unlimited LA, Mary – Meji Alabi, Soldier – Clarence Peters, Made For You – Banky W, Bad- Sesan)
No
long talk, I’ll go with Clarence Peters on the Soldier Video for Falz
ft. Simi. Its different and unique as against the popular concept of a
music video in the music industry. Clarence Peters has also completely
upped the game with new ideas under the year of review and it felt like
everyone else was playing catch-up.
“
Clarence shot it”
BEST R&B/POP ALBUM: (New Era – Kiss Daniel, Wanted – Wande Coal, Klitoris – Brymo, Naked – Dare, Seyi or Shay – Seyi Shay)
Firstly,
I would like to state that I don’t think R&B and POP belong in the
same category. Imagine Brymo along these other artistes. They certainly
don’t make the same kind of music.
Prediction:
Kiss Daniel should take this, his debut album is a masterpiece and it
beats anything out there released within the period of review and even
currently.
BEST R&B SINGLE: (Love Don’t Care – Simi, Made for You – Banky, Super Woman – Wande coal, Pray For Me – Darey, Aduke – Tjan, Smile – Shaydee)
Like
I said above, If we shouldn’t have best R&B/Pop category why should
we have a best R&B/POP album category? Anyways, this is a tight
category and should be fought closely between Darey’s Pray for me,
Simi’s Love Don’t Care and Tjan’s Aduke.
Prediction: Tjan’s Aduke is a popular dope tune across the board and I feel it should win this.
BEST POP SINGLE: (Mama
– Kiss Daniel, Final – Wizkid, Pickup – Adekunle Gold, Osinachi –
Humblesmith ft. Davido, Reggae Blues – Harrysongs and co, Emergency –
Dbanj, Fada Fada – Phyno X Olamide, Money – Timaya ft. Flavour)
This
is even proving to be more difficult as I go on. Each of these songs is
very deserving to win but I will have to go with Phyno’s Fada Fada.
That being said, I won’t be surprised if Mama or Pickup wins this.
Prediction: Fada Fada will get this, songs like Pickup and Mama seem to have been released a little too early.
BEST REGGAE/DANCEHALL SINGLE: (No
Kissing – Patoranking ft. Sarkodie, Body Hot – Praiz ft. Jesse Jagz
& Stonebwoy, Jaga Love – Jesse Jagz, Olowo – Cynthia Morgan, PamPam –
Ketchup)
No long talk. This is for Patoranking! No Kissing
baby is a jam that crossed borders. It should win this easily, no
disrespect to any of the other nominees.
BEST RAP ALBUM: (Eyan Mayweather – Olamide, Powerful – Illbliss, Stories That Touch – Falz, Lil Kesh – yagi)
Only
4 albums? Even Lil Kesh with a more Pop than Rap album is being
nominated for best RAP. This can only mean one thing, RAP artists in
Nigeria are not putting in work and most are busy singing nowadays.
Prediction:
I already made predictions on this in 2015! Falz’s Story That Touch is
my top candidate to win this. I will even stake money on it .
BEST COLLABO: (Soldier – Falz ft. Simi, Reggae
blues – Harrysong n co, Osinachi – Humblesmith ft. Davido, Wait –
Solidstar ft. Tiwa Savage, No Kissing – Patoranking ft. Sarkodie, Money –
Timaya ft. Flavour)
This is a tight category! All the songs
on this list deserve to be nominated. Not much to talk about, though. I
would tip No Kissing by Patoranking featuring Sarkodie to win this
because of the seamless chemistry on display by the pair in both the
audio and visuals.