Gaise Baba Calls for Fair Gospel Music Recognition at Headies

On August 28, gospel artiste Gaise Baba publicly criticized The Headies for the limited recognition of faith-based music within major award categories. In an open letter on X, he argued that gospel artists should be evaluated based on the quality, creativity, and impact of their music, rather than being confined to the Inspirational category.

He emphasized that a rap song should be classified as rap regardless of its lyrical content, stating, “A rap record is a rap record.” Gaise Baba recalled that The Headies introduced the Inspirational category in 2022, which he viewed as a positive step. However, he expressed disappointment at the 2024 awards when the Best Inspirational Single category, for which he was nominated for his song “Particularly” featuring Tope Alabi, was not presented on stage.

He deemed this omission unfair to the nominated artists and questioned the industry's recognition of the cultural impact of faith-based music.