Nigerian Afro-fusion gospel artiste Akinade Ibuoye, popularly known as Gaise Baba, has written an open letter to the organisers of the Headies Awards, calling for a more inclusive approach to faith-based music.

In a letter posted on his social media pages on Friday, he argued that gospel songs should be considered for mainstream categories based on artistic merit rather than being confined to isolated inspirational categories.

Gaise Baba recounted his journey in the music industry, noting that he has been an active professional for over a decade. He expressed concern that while a rap song about money, fame, or sex is judged based on its craft, a rap song with gospel content is often limited to gospel or inspirational categories.

He also questioned why faith-based music, which arguably has a significant cultural impact, is treated differently.

The ‘No Turning Back II’ crooner further raised concerns about the 2025 Headies Awards, where the Inspirational Music category was not called on stage despite nominees attending the ceremony in person.

He described this as a disregard for the creatives involved and called for proper planning to ensure every category is acknowledged on the night.

Emphasizing his point, he urged the public to compare the cultural impact of songs like “Favour” and “No Turning Back II” with other popular releases.

The letter read:
“This letter is not a complaint from the outside. It is a push from someone within, who wants to see the institution function better. And so, it is my hope that The Headies Organizing Committee, and Uncle Ayo in particular, will read the few points I raise here in good faith. Your vision has built something that did not exist before and that this industry still leans on today.”

“A rap record is a rap record. It does not stop being rap because of what the artiste chose to rap about. Whether the record is about money, fame, sex, debauchery, or faith, the craft, pen game, cadence, delivery, and the flow are what makes it a rap record, not the 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.”

“The same logic should hold across genres. If we’re appreciating and honoring music for music, then let’s do that for what it is, before filtering by what it is about.”

“In 2022 The Headies introduced the ‘Inspirational’ category, and I like many others applauded the move. It was a genuinely good step to formally nominate and recognize faith-based records. That was progress.”

“Then last year, I was a Nominee at The Headies for the song ‘Particularly’ (featuring Tope Alabi) released in 2024, and that’s my second reason for penning this open letter.”

“There were five nominees in the Inspirational Music category: Anendlessocean, Mercy Chinwo, Dunsin Oyekan, Limolabaze and myself. My team gave The Headies the honor it truly deserves: we were at the Hip Hop World office in Ikeja for the media rounds, the pre-award reception at the U.S. Consul General’s residence, and attended the awards ceremony in person, alongside veteran producer, ID Cabasa. Anendlessocean attended in person as well. Limolabaze could not attend as he is now based outside the country. However, the said category was not called on stage. The award wasn’t presented on the night: not in front of the audience, and not in front of the people who had shown up.”

“That, to me, is disregard to the creatives involved. The Inspirational category wasn’t the only one left uncalled, the same disregard applies to every other category affected. Thirty categories can be called on a night that stretched beyond five hours.”

“African artists once spoke up against the Best African Performance category not being called on stage at the Grammys. That conversation was valid then, and it is valid now in this case I am raising. If categories have been announced with creatives nominated in each, then time should be allocated in planning for every category to be called on the night, on stage, in full view. Every nominee in every category deserves that same moment.”

“Back to the issue of categorization: if a song that explores sexual desire and the objectification of a woman’s body is celebrated for its artistic value and allowed full sway in the industry’s ocean, why should the one on faith be restricted to an aquarium? Especially if the song on faith arguably had a bigger impact on culture than the other.”

“And this leads to my closing point. A question for the general public: how many records released in the current year under review have had a greater ‘cultural impact’, across the length and breadth of this country and maybe even beyond, than FAVOR or NO TURNING BACK II? Shall we count?.”

The Nigerian Voice recently reported that the Headies announced the full list of nominations for the 2026 edition, which included categories such as Best Inspirational Single and Best Vocal Performance.