🥤Is The Headies’ underground push a bid for relevance?

Plus: Treasure hunt, inside our conversation with a screenwriter, this week’s cultural moments, New Music Friday, and more.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 28, 2026   |   Read online       👋 Good afternoon. Something I’ve noticed lately is how AI keeps finding its way into the week in culture. And honestly, it says a lot about how deeply generative AI has already seeped into our systems. Every other day, there’s a new job title: AI content creator, AI videographer, and who knows what’s next. Everyone seems to be picking a side. I’m on a secret third side. Let’s get into it. In this edition: Headies Treasure Hunt, inside our conversation with a screenwriter, this week’s cultural moments, New Music Friday, and more. If you’re enjoying this, don’t forget to subscribe and join The Juice community. We’re building this together ♡. Shalom Tewobola, Editor.             🗞️ THIS WEEK IN CULTURE 🎵 MUSIC Music record labels Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Group are among the newest investors in Stability AI, with plans to develop new AI models using their catalogues and intellectual property. As labels put their catalogues into AI partnerships, questions around artists’ rights, ownership, compensation and how their music can be used become even more urgent. The technology may create new possibilities, but artists need to understand who controls and benefits from them. ⭐ CELEBRITY Yoruba veteran actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, has died after a brief illness. We honor his life and legacy. Hassan was among the actors who helped build the Yoruba film industry from the 1990s, contributing to its growth and helping Yoruba cinema reach a wider mainstream audience. His passing is a reminder of the generation of actors whose work helped create the industry we know today. 📚 LITERATURE The Nigeria Prize for Literature has announced its final three shortlisted works: Flora’s Love Colony by Tares Oburumu, Why Does God Need A Gun by Ogaga Iwowodo, and Unbind Me Now by James Ngwu Eze. Beyond the $100,000 prize, the selected poetry books from 223 submissions offer a glimpse into what contemporary Nigerian poets are writing about, from political and religious violence to wider questions about society and the human condition. 📽️ FILM Nigeria and Ghana are heading to the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with films including Clarissa, The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, The Spectacular Death of Prisca, Zjili: A Story of Sisterhood and The Burdens of Excess, alongside Nigerian industry figures across the festival’s programmes. The Esiri Brothers’ Clarissa stands out, marking its third festival appearance after Cannes and Melbourne. Set in Lagos and due December 11, its international run shows Nigerian stories can travel without losing what makes them distinctly local. ⚡TRENDING Ayra Starr is making history as the first Afrobeats artist to headline an NFL international halftime show. She will perform at the 2026 NFL London Game on October 11, when the Philadelphia Eagles face the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Coming shortly after the release of her third album, Starrgirl, this places Nigerian music on another major global entertainment platform and shows how we are increasingly becoming part of international cultural moments.             TREASURE HUNT Here are the top 5 people from last week’s hunt, big congrats! Olamiju AbdulWahab Cart 2 Nelson Ogundele Chukwuma Serah Victoria Nnamani Here’s this week’s- excited? 🔎 Clue #1  Let’s start easy. Head to our Instagram page and look closely at the first few posts. You’ll find three introductory posts waiting for you. Name one. Keep your answer close. You’ll need it for what comes next. 👀 🔎 Clue #2  Time to dig a little deeper. Scroll down to our Main Squeeze story featuring a creative. Now, take the first letter of their first name and the last letter of their surname. Put them together. What do you get? 🔎 Clue #3  Now we’re getting somewhere. 🕵🏾‍♀️ Unscramble this: YABORUNB Hint: He’s one of Nigeria’s biggest Afrofusion stars. 🔎 Final Clue  Headies Nomination list is out! Check out the Rookie of the Year category and look for the only female artist on that list. She had a viral song on TikTok this year. What’s the title of that song? Do you have your answers ready? Send all four answers to thejuice@pulse.ng with the subject line: Headies Treasure Hunt Entry That's it—you've completed this week's hunt!             MAIN SQUEEZE Njem: The Journey explores Nigerians’ secret Japa plans Filmmakers tell stories, but more importantly, they bring the realities around us to life. Ayomide Olatunbosun, a scriptwriter in his early 20s, explores a reality familiar to many Nigerian youths in Njem: The Journey, told through a different yet relatable lens. The film, distributed by Cinemax, opened in cinemas on July 24 and follows a Nigerian man approaching 30, navigating loss, emotional defeat, and a life that no longer feels like his own, as he considers risking everything to leave the country.  In this interview, Olatunbosun discusses his career, the inspiration behind Njem, and why he continues to tell stories about Nigerian struggles. You’re a screenwriter, poet, and a music collective co-founder. How have these different experiences driven the writer you’ve become? I was starstruck watching Michael Jackson’s HIStory World Tour concert films as a kid. Since then, I’ve seen visual media as a sphere where music and film uniquely intersect. Building a visual identity within the music collective has helped me navigate storytelling, drawing from music’s appeal and translating that feeling into how my films are perceived. “Japa” is already a familiar Nigerian story. What did you want Njem: The Journey to say about the desperation to leave that we haven’t heard before? The struggles of Japa have been relatively over-told, but the forced secrecy that middle-class Nigerians have to indulge in when trying to leave the country was a major plot point when I started putting the story together.  Only this time, I took a stance that justified that perspective while also exploring the moral impact Japa leaves on acquaintances or romantic relationships.  With the film now four weeks in cinemas, having debuted with ₦5.09 million in its opening week and crossed ₦50 million at the box office, what did you hope audiences would take away from the film? At the start of Njem’s cinema run, a middle-aged auntie left Ikeja City Mall demanding a sequel that would see Don Vasco die (the antagonist, played by Kelechi Udegbe), who symbolises a system suffocating youthful dreams. I live for such reactions. They affirmed that our paralysed reality isn’t normal, and escaping a system you can’t beat can feel like the only sane choice. When you started writing Njem, what did your writing process look like, especially with such a subject? How did you build the plot, characters, and the story as a whole?  The characters existed in my reality. Hence, it was all a reflective process of me piecing together a collage of the real-life experiences of a 19-year-old who needed an outlet. It was like painting a pastoral scenery on a green canvas, a painful picture at that. Seeing as I had worked on a Yoruba epic months before then, I wanted another indigenous title, so I translated the working title “The Journey” into Igbo.  You’ve written both chaotic comedy and heavy survival stories like Muri & Ko, Sunset in the North, and Finding My Way. Why do you keep returning to characters dealing with struggle, survival, and the pressure to make something of their lives? I like to think of myself as layered. Genres are secondary; the human experience is the focal point. Here, you grow up before you’re grown up, learning early to outwit struggle and climb the social ladder. I stay true to characters and stories that reflect this reality because they help me connect with audiences. You’ve been writing since university, and many of your stories center on young Nigerians navigating struggle. Has your own understanding of that experience changed as you’ve grown older, and has it changed the stories you want to tell? Of course, life has been better. But I can’t say the survival path for young Nigerians has changed much. I’m in my early 20s and was younger when I wrote most of my upcoming films. While the stories are diverse, connecting with the Nigerian experience remains a recurring theme. Now that Njem: The Journey is out in cinemas, where does your writing take you next? What stories are you currently working on that you're excited for people to see? Oh, there’s a lot to come. I can’t give specifics about upcoming projects, but political thrillers, documentaries, and notably, my first major international feature are all lined up, yeah!             POLL Who do you listen to frequently? Mainstream artists Underground artists House music Pop music             🔪 THE PEEL Is The Headies’ underground push a bid for relevance? The discourse  On Tuesday, The Headies Awards, which rewards Nigerian musical excellence, released its nominations list for its 18th edition, themed "Africa to the World." Although the two-year eligibility window raised a lot of conversations, so did the inclusive nominations, with many underground and fast-rising artists bagging nominations. Some fans saw the recognition of these upcoming acts as a sign that The Headies was embracing newer acts to stay relevant. Others thought the inclusion was beneficial to these underground artists.  The interpretations and reactions to the nominations point to a broader conversation about The Headies making more room for underground artists by including them in categories that were once mostly dominated by mainstream artists. It begs the question: is The Headies borrowing relevance from a scene it didn't build, or giving recognition to a scene that benefits from its platform? Peeling it back - What does the inclusion actually mean? Artists like Zaylevelten, Scotty Olorin, Zhus, and Luwa.mp4 don't make the usual Afrobeats liked by everyone. They are different, building up niche sounds and gradually getting more people to embrace them. Their years of building have earned them recognition and seats on the nomination list. From emerging act Mavo bagging seven nominations across six categories to Zaylevelten and WAVE$TAR getting two nominations each, the inclusion goes beyond the alternative category. There were nominations across Rookie of the Year, Next Rated, Best Alternative Album, and Best Rap Single categories.  In the Best Male Artiste category, Mavo is competing with breakout artist FOLA and mainstream artists Wizkid, Adekunle Gold, Burna Boy, Asake, Davido and Rema. In the Best Female Artiste category, Sewà is thrown into a similar horse race with Ayra Starr, Tems, Tiwa Savage, Qing Madi and Teni. However, in the Best Alternative categories, more grassroots artists were nominated to compete for the award. The Headies’ prior nods have shown its dedication to not only spotlighting but rewarding new talents with its Next Rated and Rookie of the Year categories. Those categories were reserved for breakout talents that have made the cut above the rest. However, the 18th edition nomination list brings in underground artists to compete with mainstream acts. Music journalist and critic Abdulmuqsit “genio-creativo” Idowu commends the inclusion and doesn't necessarily think The Headies is inserting UG artists into these categories for relevance. “At its core, an award is meant to recognize excellence, impact and contribution, and I think the UG has earned that recognition. The underground has grown beyond being a small community; it has obviously become a genuine force within the wider Nigerian music ecosystem, shaping conversations, sounds, aesthetics and culture in ways that are increasingly difficult to ignore.” He adds that The Headies acknowledging these artists is a reflection of that growth. They’ve had an outstanding year, and if their work meets the criteria for excellence and impact, then they deserve to be in those conversations. He also sees the recognition as an important step toward greater inclusivity within the awards space, adding that with the momentum the UG currently has, this is only the beginning. The same holds for Tochi Igboko, label manager for WeTalkSound. Tochi opines that underground artists are influencing where the wider industry goes next, so seeing institutions like The Headies acknowledge that work is important for the continued growth of the industry.  With the nominations, Igboko says, “The Headies is taking a step in the right direction; however, they need fresh hands who are properly in sync with the underground and other growing grassroots scenes like EDM, house music.” He also suggested that The Headies revisit some categories, as artists like Scotty Olorin and Zaylevelten, whose albums were nominated in the Best Alternative Album categories, are mostly hip-hop projects. But why do listeners think The Headies need UG acts? The Headies once held enormous cultural authority, but major snubs, perceived incompetence and bias, declining standards, and its posturing for international placements have weakened its credibility among audiences. An example is the recent edits made to an already published nomination list, including changes to Best Male Artiste and Afrobeats Song of the Year. Additionally, combining releases from 2024–2026 remains questionable among fans, although The Headies said the move was made to clear its backlog. So perhaps the issue isn't that The Headies needs underground artists to stay relevant, but that audiences no longer see it as the ultimate authority on what matters. In a music ecosystem where listeners no longer need institutions to tell them what matters, The Headies has to do more than recognise what is happening; it has to prove that it understands it. The core Two truths can co-exist, although maybe not equally. The underground scene benefits from The Headies' recognition through increased visibility, acceptance, and commercial opportunities. But The Headies benefits too. As underground artists influence Nigerian music’s direction, their inclusion keeps the awards connected to the communities, conversations, and cultural movements. The underground may need The Headies for recognition, but The Headies also need to remain connected to the audiences and cultures shaping Nigerian music today. That makes the inclusion less of a rescue mission and more of a fair exchange.             🎵 PRESSED BY THE JUICE Put the latest releases on repeat this Friday! This week, Blaqbonez, TML Vibez, Phyno, and Muyeez all came correct. Save your favorites, as New Music Box💿 is updated every Friday! Do you have a song you’d like us to include? Put us on; reply here. Listen Now       FRESH STATS 87% 87% musicians now use AI in some part of their creative process . Was this email forwarded to you? Join The Juice → Have a story or product that needs to be seen? Submit Here → Today’s email was written by Shalom Tewobola and Ikeoluwa Amonimo, edited by Shalom Tewobola. 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