Gospel artiste Gaise Baba has criticized the organizers of The Headies over what he described as the continued sidelining of faith-based music from major award categories.
The Afrogospel artiste said gospel musicians should be assessed alongside other artistes based on the quality, creativity, and impact of their music, rather than being restricted to inspirational or gospel-specific categories.
Gaise Baba made his position known in an open letter addressed to The Headies organizers and shared on X on Friday, August 28, 2026, while reflecting on his experience as a nominee at the awards.
The 18th edition of The Headies is scheduled to take place in Toronto, Canada, on October 25, 2026, with nominees competing across 35 categories. Several of the major categories feature leading Afrobeats artistes.
Gaise Baba, who described himself as one of the leading voices in Afrogospel, said his more than 15 years in the Nigerian music industry had given him enough experience to speak about the direction of the awards.
He explained that being a faith-based artiste should not limit where his music can compete within the wider Nigerian music industry.
“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,” he said.
According to him, the subject matter of a song should not determine whether the artistic work can compete in its broader musical category.
Using rap music as an example, Gaise Baba argued that a rap song should remain eligible for rap categories regardless of whether its lyrics focus on money, fame, relationships, social issues, or faith.
“A rap record is a rap record. It does not stop being rap because of what the artiste chose to rap about,” he said.
He further argued that the craft, writing, delivery, cadence and flow should be considered when judging a song, rather than simply focusing on its subject matter.
“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 added.
Gaise Baba also recalled The Headies’ introduction of the Inspirational category in 2022, describing the move as an important step towards recognising faith-based music within the Nigerian music industry.
However, he said his experience at the previous edition of the awards left him disappointed after the Inspirational Music category was not presented on stage.
The singer had been nominated in the category for his song "Particularly," featuring veteran gospel singer Tope Alabi. Other nominees included Anendlessocean, Mercy Chinwo, Dunsin Oyekan, and Limoblaze.
He said his team participated in the media rounds, attended the pre-award reception, and was present at the main ceremony, only to discover that the Inspirational Music category was not called during the event.
Gaise Baba described the omission as disrespectful to the artistes and creatives who had been nominated and invested their time in the awards process.
His comments have once again brought attention to the place of gospel and faith-based music within Nigeria's rapidly evolving mainstream music industry, particularly the question of whether artistes should be judged primarily by genre or by the quality and impact of their work regardless of lyrical themes.