Gaise Baba accuses Headies awards of sidelining gospel artistes in major categories

Gospel musician Gaise Baba has lambasted The Headies awards organization for allegedly sidelining gospel music in key award categories, asserting that gospel artists should compete on the same basis as other musicians based on the quality and impact of their music. In an open letter to the Headies organizers dated August 28, 2026, Gaise Baba expressed his frustration during his time as a nominee at the awards.

The 18th edition of the Headies, set to take place on October 25, 2026, in Toronto, Canada, features nominees in 35 categories, with Afrobeats artists dominating several major categories.

Gaise Baba, who has been active in the Nigerian music industry for over 15 years and is a prominent figure in Afrogospel, argued that faith-based music should not be confined to a specific category but should be judged alongside other genres based on artistic merit. He stated, "A rap record is a rap record. It does not stop being rap because of what the artiste chose to rap about.

Whether the record is about money, fame, sex, debauchery, or faith, the craft, pen game, cadence, delivery, and the flow are what makes it a rap record, not the subject matter." Gaise Baba emphasized that faith-based songs should be evaluated in the same way as other types of music and should not be relegated to an inspirational category.

While The Headies introduced the Inspirational category in 2022, Gaise Baba claimed that this move was a positive step for recognizing faith-based music. However, he expressed disappointment at the 2025 edition of the awards, as the Inspirational Music category was not called upon stage. He criticized the omission as a disregard for the creativity of the nominated artists, stating, "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."

Gaise Baba urged the organizers to ensure that all announced categories receive adequate airtime on the night, emphasizing that all nominees deserve recognition in front of the audience. He also questioned why songs with secular themes could compete based on artistic value while gospel songs were restricted to an inspirational category.

Gaise Baba highlighted the cultural impact of faith-based songs such as Favour and No Turning Back II, asking, "How many records released in the current year under review have had a greater "cultural impact", across the length and breadth of this country and maybe even beyond, than FAVOR or NO TURNING BACK II?" No Turning Back 2 by Gaise Baba and Lawrence Oyor is among the six nominees for Best Inspirational Single at the 2026 Headies, alongside works by Sunmisola Agbebi, Lawrence Oyor, Sinach, EmmaOMG, and Mercy Chinwo.