Nigerian singer Fola leads the 18th Headies nominations with 10 nods across album, single, songwriting and collaboration categories.
His debut project Catharsis is nominated in two album categories, while the track “You” appears in four song-level categories. The nominations also include songwriting and collaboration work.
Album and single categories#
Catharsis is shortlisted for Album of the Year and Best R&B Album. Best R&B Album is genre-specific, while Album of the Year considers the project more broadly, including songwriting and production.
“You” is nominated for Afrobeats Single of the Year, Best Recording of the Year, Headies Viewers’ Choice and Song of the Year. Best Recording focuses on the quality of the recorded work and its musical execution. Song of the Year is tied to cultural impact. Viewers’ Choice brings public support and digital engagement into the assessment.
- Album of the Year: Catharsis
- Best R&B Album: Catharsis
- Afrobeats Single of the Year: “You”
- Best Recording of the Year: “You”
- Headies Viewers’ Choice: “You”
- Song of the Year: “You”
- Songwriter of the Year: “Who Does That?”
- Best Collaboration: “Lost” with Kizz Daniel
- Next Rated: Fola
- Best Male Artiste: Fola
Songwriting and collaboration#
“Who Does That?” earns Fola a Songwriter of the Year nomination, which focuses on the writing rather than the commercial profile of the finished recording.
“Lost,” recorded with Kizz Daniel, places Fola in Best Collaboration. That category recognises a collaborative recording rather than a solo artist or one album.
Next Rated and Best Male Artiste#
Fola is nominated in both Next Rated and Best Male Artiste. Next Rated identifies an emerging act considered ready for broader mainstream recognition. Best Male Artiste assesses cultural impact during the eligibility period.
The two categories apply different criteria, so the same artist can be recognised as a developing act and as a significant male performer in the same edition.
Music in interactive formats#
Music can serve a different purpose outside awards. In casino games such as Aviator and Chicken Road, the audio belongs to interactive entertainment rather than a standalone release. Sound cues can mark changes in play, while background music can establish continuity between those moments.
Those functions are not comparable to judging an album for songwriting or a single for cultural impact. Wagering remains optional entertainment, and the soundtrack does not change that role.
Eligibility window#
The 18th Headies nominations are tied to a defined review period rather than everything Fola had released by the time the list appeared. Eligible music had to fall between 1 August 2024 and 30 April 2026.
The nominations were published months after some of the qualifying work. The window places Catharsis beside “You” and other work from different parts of Fola’s recent catalogue. A release arriving after 30 April cannot be used to explain a nomination from this edition, regardless of how well it performs later. The awards are looking across a fixed period, not simply at whatever is newest in September 2026.
Fola’s 10 nominations cover album work and individual songs from within the same eligibility period. They also reach categories based on creative contribution rather than only the commercial identity of the release. The awards will be decided category by category.
