Headies Awards, which was originally called the Hip Hop World Awards, was set up in 2006 to recognize outstanding achievements in the Nigerian music industry. It took place last Sunday, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
In this write up, CHIDERA AJOKE looks at what happened in the 14th edition of the show and how its followers reacted. She, therefore, asked if the 2020 Headies Award show was a hit or a miss?
We all detest the cold, sad feeling of disappointment. Whether it is the disappointment that comes with the terror of a first date going wrong, or the realisation that your country couldn’t even successfully pull off a simple award show.
We’re all familiar with this feeling. Then it gets worse when you find out, like a child born with sickle cell, that the entire situation could have been totally avoided if only learned and experienced professionals were involved in the planning and organising stage.
It is obvious many Nigerians were dissatisfied with the turn out of the 14th Headies award show, held on the 21st of February 2021.
This was evident in their reactions on Twitter and other social media handles, where several of them wrote about their displeasure in a way that is peculiar to only ‘Millennials’ and ‘Zillennials’.
On Twitter one, tweets about The Headies poured in so much that it seemed like almost everyone had at least one thing or the other to complain about the event.
I could only wonder why the event turned out to not meet the expectations of many, knowing that the organisers had almost an entire year to strategise and plan for a successful show.
From the nominations process, which a lot of people felt was sketchy, to the selection of winners, which saw some celebrities publicly exclaiming that ‘Headies politics’ was at work again, to the huge technical malfunctioning during the ‘exclusive’ Live airing of the famous HipTv Award show, it was clear a large number of the populace including myself, were highly disappointed.
In fact, some individuals solemnly claimed that the only good thing to come out of The Headies Award Show was the fact that it was Covid19 compliant. But quite a number of people still feel that was not true because the microphones were not sprayed or sanitized before being given to someone else.
And I daresay, that some of the celebrities at the event made matters worse with their subpar dressing and mis-yarning on the red carpet, as seen by fine boy-bella-me-a-fighter, Bella Shmurda, and some of your power ranger looking faves.
Starting from the case of the somewhat sketchy nominations, I’d like to ask why didn’t The Headies take a cue from the playbook #FemCo used during the #EndSars movement to extend the hand of openness? Why weren’t the viewers privy to the decisions and ratings that led to the nominations of artists in their different categories? This same playbook was evident with #BBNaija. Openness and accountability, which was one of the reasons the show was a success. Viewers could see the voting polls directly and the turnaround effect their votes had on their fav contestant.
This is the 14th edition of The Headies and yet we can’t confidently list out the statistics and ratings used to determine the qualification of a nominee per category? It’s rather incredulous.
Also, moving to the determining of winners, why couldn’t this premise be used as well? On what grounds were the winners chosen? How did the viewers vote? I’d like to believe that the 2021 edition of the award would be different in order to nip in the bud the problem of ‘Headies politics and corruption’.
To say that I understand the importance of certain shows running exclusively on the parent station is an understatement. However, one would expect that because of the great responsibility that comes with that great power, the host/parent station would do the needful by ensuring that the boxes, affecting all technicalities involved, in the running and airing a show, were ticked and checked. If not for anything, to at least, prevent the embarrassment that we all saw on February 21st night. The Live airing tripped off nationwide on the only station airing it and Nigerians were left to listen to songs. An act that left a lot of people disappointed.
Does this mean that the entire 14th Annual Headies Award Show was a flop undeserving of any accolades? Certainly not. At least, The Headies in an extremely grand style, gave us the social representation and activism we, as a country desperately desire at the moment.
From the opening glee dramatization of ‘Great Nation’ by Timi Dakolo to the use of socio-political songs like Fela’s ‘Zombie’ and Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’, the music definitely complimented the theme.
Bovi’s attire also made an impressionable statement as his #EndSars shirt not only reminded us of the #LekkiTollMassacre, but also served as a tribute to the souls lost during the peaceful protest.
The Headies also included an impression of Babatunde Raji Fashola’s infamous camera moment at the Lekki tollgate.
The Headies definitely succeeded in throwing a significant tribute to the EndSARS movement.
The event also, it must be said, afforded us the opportunity to relish the unity that exists among young artists via the actions of all the nominated next Rated Artistes supporting Omah Lay after he emerged as the winner of that category.
Whether you are among Nigerians who believe the show was a hit or a miss, the ultimate thing is that Headies 2021 made an impact that was seen and felt.
Thank you Headies.