Olamide and Wizkid unite
Plus: The Headies 2025 flop, Portable escape prison, the rise of Edo Rap, new fiction editor, New song from Olamide and Wizkid, New Laho video with Burna Boy and more...
Welcome to The Feed, where Dennis is back to work and thinking about The Headies. I knew when the date for the award was sneakily changed that the Headies would not be well organised, and at this point, it's a shame to see this continue. One would expect us to have gotten to a better place with planning and organisation, but that doesn’t seem to have happened for some reason.
Like the over 20k people who streamed that award with me on YouTube Live at 1 am Monday, I will always root for this award because, for years, it gave us something to be hopeful for. A reason to banter and defend our fave. I know it will be better because it has to. But till then, my colleague Marv Tomide, who has been holding this newsletter down for me while I was away from work and was at the event live, has some smart takes we published on Monday. Please read it here and share.
This week, we have all the details from the Headies, including the complete list of winners. Also, Portable will not spend even a night in prison after he opted to pay a fine. We have more details below.
It is always a delight when our big Afrobeats stars come together and collaborate. The new song from Olamide and Wizkid really warmed my heart. It is one of our best songs this week.
For my column, #MadeinNigeria, I chatted with Chude Jideonwo. He opened up about building his premium podcast #WithChude for five years. Please read it here.
We have created this form for feedback, and we’d like to hear your thoughts in the coming days. Please feel free to share some with us.
Celebrity
→ Omowunmi in good health: Actress Omowunmi Dada posted online about a surgery she had to treat pain in her leg. “Sometimes, we carry our pain so quietly that the world celebrates us without realising the weight we bear behind the scenes,” she said on Instagram.
→ Happy birthday, Jemima: Jemima Osunde celebrated her birthday with these stunning images.
→ Portable survive jail: Musician Portable will avoid three months’ jail time after he was found guilty in an assault case from 2022. He decided to pay the ₦30,000 fine.
→ Consciously coupling: Davido threw Chioma a surprise birthday as she turned 30 this week.
Online Entry
→ Skaled forward? Skales' 2015 song “Shakebody” is all the rage online, climbing to the top 200 most Shazam songs globally this week.
Bops
→ Headies 2025: At the Headies on Sunday, there were performances from rising acts like Qing Madi and Shallipopi. Davido took home the Digital Artiste of the Year award. Tems won Best Recording of the Year, and LoJay snagged the Best Vocal Performance (Male) award. We have the complete list of winners at the Headies here.
→ The rise of the Uzama brothers: My colleague Marv Tomide also has a very smart take on how Shallipopi and Zerry DL (both Sunday Headies winners) are reshaping Nigerian rap. Read it here.
→ Only 1 Omay Lay: Omah Lay's debut album Boy Alone has surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
→ Afrobeats in F1: The Movie: Burna Boy, Darkoo, Obongjayar, and Mr Eazi contributed to the official soundtrack of F1: The Movie. It will be released on June 27, 2025.
→ “Laho” video is here: Shallipopi has released the video for his hit “Laho” with Burna Boy.
→ The Best New Music This Week:
>> Runtown has dropped a new song, “Do Me,” about managing female attention.
>> Ayra Starr has dropped a new song, “Gimme Dat,” featuring Wizkid.
>> Burna Boy has dropped a new song, “Sweet Love.”
>> Olamide has dropped a new song with Wizkid, “Kai,” their first collaboration in years.
→ Recommendation:
>> The 10 Greatest Debut Afrobeats Albums of All Time, Ranked
Cine Club
→ Long Live Wizkid: Wizkid's new documentary, Long Live Lagos, will premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival in June.
→ Red Circle: Nora Awolowo and Abdul Tijani–Ahmed have dropped the trailer for their new film “Red Circle,” a crime thriller directed by Akay Mason. Folu Storms, Tobi Bakre, Timini Egbuson, Mike Afolarin, Omowunmi Dada, Femi Branch, Bukky Wright, and Lateef Adedimeji are in it.
→ About Alison-Madueke: Chude Jideonwo’s documentary Is It Your Money, about former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, is now streaming on WithChude.com.
→ Nigerian box office:
Pod Gems
→ How to “talking stage”: On the bro bant show, the host talks about the talking stage.
→ The monosphere: The hosts of Menism Podcasts talk about monogamy this week.
→ Davido on fame: Davido dropped by The Ebro Show for a wide-ranging interview.
→ #WithChude Live: Chude Jideonwo held the first edition of his live show, a talk concert called #WithChude Live in Lagos, with Falz, Bovi, Funke Akindele, Jerry Eze, and Chimamanda Adichie as guests. See the highlights below:
Baffs
→ Headies 2025: Flavour didn’t go there to play
>> See more looks from The Headies below.
Chioma Ikokwu
Liquo Rose
Bookshelf
→ Book to stage: The Republic Journal will now publish fiction. Chigozie Obioma has joined as fiction editor. Writers will be paid $200.
→ Things Fall Apart Day festival: Writer James Eze has been announced as the Chair of the Planning Committee for the 2025 edition of Things Fall Apart Day festival, to be held June 10-17.
→ New Nigerian poetry: Pre-order for The Years of Blood, Nigerian poet Adedayo Agarau’s debut full-length poetry collection, is now open. Fordham University Press will publish it this September.
One good article
This week, My One Good Article is the story opinion piece that my colleague Marv wrote about the new era of rap. I know it is not very human-interested, but I found it to be a very insightful read.