“Why The Headies Now Holds In The US”- Headies Awards Executive Producer, Ayo Animashaun
In an exclusive conversation with well-known actress Iyabo Ojo for her podcast, Headies executive producer Ayo Animashaun explained why the award ceremony is no longer held in Nigeria. Ayo Animashaun highlighted that the afrobeats genre is now a global phenomenon rather than just an African one. As such, the Headies Awards have evolved into an international event honouring artists who have achieved global success in the genre. However, this is not the first time that someone has questioned the rationale behind this choice, as netizens also reacted to his responses in the comments.
In the interview with the media personality, Ayo discussed the rationale for this choice, disclosing,
“Over the years, the Afrobeats artists have grown, they’ve evolved. They’re no longer local champions. They sell out concert venues around the world, from Madison Square Garden to [Atlanta’s] State Farm Arena. Afrobeats is not just about our own music anymore. We need to take center stage, where there are so many artists doing Afrobeats that nobody’s gonna see if you do not create opportunities like this. There are so many now that a lot of people don’t know yet, and they are so talented. Having the awards in Nigeria, and Africa, the same old way, will not open new doors for this talent. That’s part of the reason why we moved it here…. [and] Atlanta is like the Black entertainment capital of the world. After asking questions about everything, a consultant said for this kind of award, Atlanta is a good spot for it. You have a lot going on here. We decided, “You know what? Let’s settle there and make a difference.”
He was asked whether the award ceremony would be returning to Nigeria, to which he responded,
“Right now, we don’t want to leave the nest yet ‘cause we put a lot in bringing the awards here. We started like a year and a half ago, and we want to see it through. This year will be like an experiment. We’d want to do better next year because we invested a lot to have it happen this year. And it would not be fair on everything we’re trying to build to just have this one and run away. So at some point, [we’ll] consider U.K. or even UAE [United Arab Emirates] . But I think we’re gonna be [in the U.S.] next year.”
Iyabo Ojo: Headies Awards last year was not in Nigeria. Why?
Ayo Animashaun: pic.twitter.com/VxGE16Ruqx
— 🐬 @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) December 3, 2023
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