Rising Afro-R&B star Fola leads the 18th Headies Awards nominations with 10 nods in his first-ever appearance on the list. Driven by his debut project Catharsis and hit single “You”, he earned nominations for Album of the Year, Next Rated, and Best Male Artiste.
Fola Is Having a Breakout Year as He Leads 18th Headies Nominations With 10 Nods
Afro-R&B singer Fola is having a remarkable year, and the nominations for the 18th Headies Awards have further cemented his rising status in Nigerian music.
The singer leads this year’s nominations with 10 nods, making him the most nominated artiste at the ceremony. Remarkably, this marks Fola’s first appearance on the Headies nomination list.
Omah Lay follows with eight nominations, while Mavo and Wizkid secured seven nominations each.
Asake and Davido received six nominations apiece, while Ayra Starr and Tiwa Savage emerged as the female artistes with the highest number of nominations, with five each.
Breakout artiste Kunmie also secured five nominations, including Song of the Year for his single, “Arike”.
Born Odunlami Afolarin Temiloluwa, Fola earned nominations across some of the ceremony’s biggest categories following the release of his debut project, Catharsis. The album is in contention for Album of the Year and Best R&B Album, while Fola himself is nominated for Next Rated, Best Male Artiste and Digital Artiste of the Year.
His widely acclaimed single “You” accounts for three additional nominations, earning recognition in the Afrobeats Single of the Year, Best Recording of the Year and the fan-voted Headies Viewers’ Choice categories.
Fola’s songwriting and collaborative abilities have also received recognition. His track “Who Does That?” earns him a nomination for Songwriter of the Year, while his collaboration with Kizz Daniel, “Lost,” is nominated for Best Collaboration.
The impressive haul builds on the momentum Fola has enjoyed since breaking through with “Alone”, followed by Catharsis, a project that helped introduce his distinctive sound to an even broader audience.
With his debut appearance on the Headies nomination list turning into a record-leading 10 nominations, Fola has gone from emerging talent to one of the major talking points of this year’s awards season.
The 18th Headies Awards will take place on October 25 in Toronto, Canada, where Fola will look to turn his unprecedented nomination haul into silverware.
