Executive producer of the Headies Awards, Ayo Animashaun reveals why the event is now held in the US
The executive producer of the Headies Awards, Ayo Animashaun, in an exclusive interview with popular actress Iyabo Ojo, revealed why the award ceremony is no longer held in Nigeria.
Ayo Animashaun emphasized on the fact that the genre afrobeats is no longer an African phenomenon but a global one and as such the Headies Awards has now taken the role of a global award ceremony that honours artists achieving global excellence in the genre.
This is however not the first time the question on the reason behind this decision would be asked, Ayo in an interview with the media outlet spoke on the reason behind this decision and he revealed, "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’s so many artists doing Afrobeats that nobody’s gonna see if you do not create opportunities like this. There’s so many now that a lot of people don’t know yet, and they are so talented. Having the awards in Nigeria, in 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.”
When asked if the award ceremony will return to Nigeria he added, "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, 2023Hot stories
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