VIDEO: The Headies

Posted on October 18th, 2011 By Jay Doherty International
ROAD MAP TO THE HEADIES
IN THE BEGINING…
Since it kicked off in 2006 at the Shell Hall of the Muson Centre, Lagos, The Headies (Hip Hop World Awards) has been the byword of reward for musical excellence and creativity. The highly esteemed award event has over these years grown to be the standard by which music talents are measured and music careers defined. In 2011, the yardstick has amplified as the premise of everything revolving around the awards is to “Stand out, Surpass and “Break From The Norm”. Join the Hip Hop World entourage as we account and map our way on this mind-blowing experience to the Headies in October.
Hip Hop World Awards Also Becomes The Headies
To begin the campaign for the Awards in 2011 was the adoption of an affable name to also refer to the awards; an initiation that brought about the adoption of The Headies from ‘Headie’ – the name for the distinctive 21 carat gold-plated Hip Hop World Award plaque. The Headie which appears in the form of a man shouting represents the young, vibrant and talented individual who is ready and able to take on the best musical talents in the world and has not lost confidence in his own abilities despite the daunting challenges presented by his environment.
Unlike hitherto Hip Hop World Award ceremonies, The Headies in 2011 marked a total budge from the tradition, as from time immemorial the Awards have always been held in May or June. But, as a patriotic and social conscious brand, organizers of the Awards decided to accommodate the 2011 general elections in Nigeria into their calendar of activities. This factor made the dates for the Awards to move a few months further into the year, but with an undisclosed date at the time.
Production of the Theme Song
On May 25, Nigerian music talents Wizkid, Ice Prince, Samklef and Waje were hosted at The Headies secretariat for an official briefing on the direction of the Headies theme song titled “Breaking from the Norm”. The song which had in addition to the previously mentioned artistes, rapper Ill Bliss became available to the general public on June 12 after each artistes’ respectively visited Samklef’s studio for recording sessions. The song has a total duration of 4 minutes and 33 seconds.

Prod. By Samklef
Call for Entries Open
A month earlier, on April 25, a call for entry was announced and artistes from all over the country were given the opportunity to send in their musical works for nomination at the sixth edition of the Awards. This year was also different as the year in review was between December 2009 and February 2011, unlike the usual eligibility period from December of a previous year to November of the next year. The entry period was opened till the end of May with a stack of over 2,000 entries in brown envelopes from the four cardinal points of Nigeria.
The Pedigree of Hosts
As activities keep brewing towards the Awards, the Hosts for the Headies was made public on June 14. And to reinforcing past hosts like Darey Art-Alada in 2006; D’Banj and Tana in 2007; Dakore and Basketmouth in 2008; Banky W and Kemi Adetiba in 2009, except for 2010 when a voiceover called “Voice of God” was used instead. Now in 2011, after several months of deliberation in-house, two entertainment industry players from the movie and music industry respectively were chosen to host and co-host the event; Rita Dominic and eLDee Tha Don, both of whom are active and well-respected individuals in their fields. A few weeks later, the Hosts were engaged in a photo shoot session which further unveiled their merging personalities as the euphoria on set was way beyond exciting and humorous as Rita and eLDee played pranks and said jokes. The photos speak more!

Premiere Media Appearance
Still on the Hosts, on the 12th of July a date was scheduled for an official and premiere media visit to the Beat 99.9FM studio – an urban radio station on Keffe Street, Lagos Island. However, due to unforeseen conditions only Rita Dominic and the Headies media team made it to Beat FM that morning, as eLDee Tha Don was stuck in Port Harcourt due to flight rearrangements and couldn’t make in to Lagos. The interview with Olisa Adibua and Orheka, both On-air personalities, didn’t begin until 11am. The interview had Rita Dominic speak on her role at this year’s Hip Hop World Awards (The Headies), her compatibility with her co-host, her preparedness and expectations at the awards, and her personal life and career. During the course of the interview, eLDee Tha Don made a call through to the studio and was put on air as he answered questions from fans about the awards and his expectations too. Following all these and to round –off the visit, the Headies theme song was officially premiered on radio after which online platforms shared it. Like it wasn’t splendid a day already, coincidence had that day as Rita Dominic’s birthday and she was surprised by the Headies team with a cake and more items. Camera’s kept clicking and smiles covered the faces of everyone with the padded studio as the Headies theme song played on air.
Behind the Lights, Camera and Action!
A few weeks later, the Hosts were summoned again, but this time all routes led to Koga studio in Oregun, Lagos for the video shoot for the Awards’ promo. The shoot was held at two different times to accommodate the Hosts who had slightly conflicting schedules. The video shoot had a few Headie team members around; as the Awards’ Executive Producer, Ayo Animashaun, Creative Director – Steve Babaeko, the Hosts – eLDee and Rita, Stylist – Bolaji Animashaun, Video Director and Producer – Gbenga Salu, Photographer – Shola Animashaun, makeup artiste, press photographers, HipTv crew and more. The shoots on either day started after noon respectively and chopped into the night unnoticed as everyone got stuck to the scripts and lines of their job descriptions within the green studio room and lost track of time.

And the Jury is Summoned
As most of these activities went on simultaneously, so also did the nomination committee or jury sit every weekend since the call for entry closed on May 31. They had the obligation to come up with a reliable and valid nominees list for the Awards. This jury was as a necessity constituted of renowned individuals and professionals from the Nigerian music industry either as practitioners or stakeholders, this was so the selection process was handled by experts familiar with the industry. The Jury was headed by ace Nigerian disc jockey, DJ Jimmy Jatt. After two months of painstaking collation, deliberations, arguments, research and documentation, the 21 category Headies nominees list was finally released on the 2nd of August, 2011. As one of the most anticipated periods of the Awards, the list was officially announced over radio, on the Headies official website and across press and media platforms across the country. In total the nominees list in 2011 had 58 nominees spread over these 21 categories. Not forgetting that a new category was introduced this year; the “Best Conscious Song of the Year” to further accommodate and reward positive message oriented and social corrective songs that meet the jury’s requirements in areas of composition, production, concept and acceptability. A similar inclusion to the nomination category also came up in 2009 when the “Best Street Hop” category introduced to reward indigenous songs.
9 Voting Categories Released
Two weeks after the nominees list was announced, the short messaging service (SMS) and online voting platforms were opened to the public. Both mediums for voting came about in order to reduce and check shortcomings and possible voters’ pranks and maneuvering, while coming up with the most reliable and valid empirical voting results possible. Nine categories were opened to voting this year; Artiste of the Year, Song of the Year, Next Rated, Best Street Hop, Best Music Video, Best Pop Single, Best RnB Single, Best Conscious Song of the Year and African Artiste of the Year.
Heading to The Headies
At this stage in the build up to the Awards, people have almost gotten weary of asking of when and where the awards would take place. As previously scheduled dates were changed and rumours of the event moving outside Lagos circulated like ripples on water bodies. However, finally and definitely certain people’s curiosity can be laid to rest as the Headies (Hip Hop World Awards) will be holding at the Exhibition Center, Eko Hotel&Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on the 22nd of October, 2011. A-list performances have been billed to perform on that day, alongside surprise performances from Nigerian and other African Acts. While we all bask on the news of when the Awards will hold and make apt preparations, a few pre-award events like the nominees party, media tour and more are also anticipated with details withheld.
Brace yourself Lagos, Nigeria…as all routes lead to the final destination –The Headies on October 22, 2011.