Gospel artiste, Gaise Baba, has criticised The Headies for what he described as the sidelining of faith-based music in major award categories, arguing that gospel artistes should be judged alongside other artistes based on the quality and impact of their music
Gaise Baba made his position known in an open letter on X to the organisers of The Headies dated August 28, 2026, while reflecting on his experience as a nominee at the awards.
The 18th Headies, scheduled to hold in Toronto, Canada, on October 25, 2026, features nominees across 35 categories, with Afrobeats stars dominating several of the major categories.
The artiste, who described himself as a leading voice in Afrogospel, said he had been involved in the Nigerian music industry for more than 15 years and believed he had the right to speak about the direction of the awards.
He said, “As a faith-based artiste, or gospel as it is more commonly called, I have always had an outlook of not being limited in expression or restricted to only religious gatherings; I will engage across the length and breadth of the industry within which I play, in this case, the Music Industry.”
He said, “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.”
He added that music with faith-based themes should be judged in the same way as other forms of music.
“A rap song with gospel content, considered only within “gospel” or “inspirational” categories and never as “rap” is being quietly removed from a conversation it has every right to be part of,” he said.
Gaise Baba recalled that The Headies introduced the Inspirational category in 2022, describing the move as a positive development that formally recognised faith-based records.
However, he said his experience at the previous edition of the awards left him disappointed after the Inspirational Music category was not called on stage.
The artiste was nominated in the category for Particularly, featuring Tope Alabi, alongside Anendlessocean, Mercy Chinwo, Dunsin Oyekan and Limoblaze.
He said his team attended the media rounds, pre-award reception and the awards ceremony, but the category was not presented during the ceremony.
Gaise Baba described the omission as a disregard for the creatives nominated in the category.
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