The 2019 Headies award, one of Nigeria’s biggest music award shows, kicked off with a red carpet at about 7 pm W.A.T with the main event starting at exactly 9 pm W.A.T at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday, October 19, 2019.

The event featured exhilarating musical performances from some of Nigeria’s older and new age musicians who kept the audience up on their feet almost throughout the show.

Nigerian actress and TV host, Nancy Isime and rap star, Reminisce hosted the award show where over 20 awards were won by individuals that excelled in their respective categories in the year under review.

Pop sensation, Teni emerged the biggest winner at the event with 5 awards, while Falz and Burna Boy tailed right behind her with 3 and 2 respectively.

Here are the winners of the 13th edition of the Headies.

1.  BEST RECORDING OF THE YEAR (Non-voting category)

• Adekunle Gold – Ire
• Patoranking – Heal D World
• Brymo – Olanrewaju
• Teni – Uyo Meyo (Winner)
• Burna Boy – Ye

2.      BEST POP SINGLE

• ‘Ye’ – Burna Boy
• ‘Wetin We Gain’ – Victor AD
• ‘Fake Love’ – Starboy ft Duncan Mighty, Wizkid
• ‘Case’ – Teni (Winner)
• ‘Jealous’ – Fireboy DML
• ‘Baby’ – Joeboy

3.      PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

• Phantom – ‘Ye’ b Burna Boy
• Ozedikus – ‘Dumebi’ by Rema
• Spellz – ‘Askamaya’ by Teni
• Killertunes – ‘Fake Love’ by Starboy featuring Duncan Mighty and Wizkid ( Winner)
• Kel-P Vibes – ‘Killing Dem’ by Burna Boy featuring Zlatan

4.      BEST RAP ALBUM (Non-voting)

• ‘Moral Instruction’ – Falz (Winner)
• ‘Crown’ – AQ and Loose Kaynon
• ‘A Study On Self Worth: Yxng Dxnzl’ – M.I Abaga
• ‘Clone Wars, Vol. IV (These Buhari Times)’ – Show Dem Camp

5.      BEST R&B/ POP ALBUM

• Rare – Odunsi (The Engine)
• Outside – Burna Boy
• No Bad Songz – Kizz Daniel
• Mayor of Lagos – Mayorkun (Winner)
• About 30 – Adekunle Gold

6.      BEST MUSIC VIDEO

• ‘Dangote’ (Burna Boy) – Clarence Peters(Winner)
• ‘Available’ (Patoranking) – Clarence Peters
• ‘Ire’ (Adekunle Gold) – Aje Films
• ‘Talk’ (Falz) – Prodigeezy
• ‘Jaiye’ (Ladipoe) – 88 Factor

7.      BEST R&B SINGLE

• ‘Tipsy’ – Odunsi ft. RAYE
• ‘Serenade’ – Funbi
• ‘Uyo Meyo’ – Teni
•  ‘Wishes and Butterflies’ – Wurld
• ‘Gimme Love’ – Seyi Shay featuring Runtown (Winner)

8.      BEST COLLABO

• ‘Like’ – Reekado Banks featuring Tiwa Savage, Fiokee
• ‘One Ticket’ – Kiss Daniel featuring Davido
• ‘Fake Love’ – Starboy featuring Duncan Mighty, Wizkid
• ‘Killin’ Dem’ – Burna Boy featuring Zlatan (Winner)
• ‘Amaka’ – 2baba featuring Peruzzi

9.      BEST RAP SINGLE

• ‘Talk’ – Falz ( Winner)
• ‘We Don’t Do That Over Here’ – Hotyce
• ‘40ft Container’ – Ill Bliss featuring Olamide
• ‘Sacrifice’ – Payper Corleone featuring Alpha Ojini
•  ‘Gang Gang’ – AQ and Loose Kaynon

10.  BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE(MALE) (Non-voting category)

• Tay Iwar – ‘Utero’
• Johnny Drille – ‘Finding Efe’
• Nonso Bassey – ‘411’
• Funbi – ‘Serenade’
• Wurld – ‘Wishes & Butterfly’ ( Winner)

11.  BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE (FEMALE) (Non-voting category)

• Good Girl LA – ‘Bless me’
• Waje – ‘Udue’
• Teni – ‘Uyo Meyo’ (Winner)
• Tems – ‘Mr Rebel’
• Falana – ‘Repeat’

12.  NEXT RATED

This category is a voting category and the award is given to the most performing and promising act in the year under review.

• Rema (Winner)
• Joeboy
• Fireboy DML
• Victor AD
• Lyta
• Zlatan

13.  HIP HOP WORLD REVELATION

• Odunsi
• Mayorkun (Winner)
• Wurld
• Humblesmith

15.  BEST STREET-HOP ARTISTE

• Erigga – ‘Motivation’ 
• Chinko Ekun – ‘Able God’ (Winner)
• Zlatan – ‘Leg Work’
• Barry Jhay – ‘Aiye’
• Lyta – ‘Time’

16.  BEST ‘ALTERNATIVE’ SONG

• ‘Cash’ – Lady Donli
• ‘Mr Rebel’ – Tems
• ‘Finding Efe’ – Johnny Drille ( Winner)
• ‘Heya’ – Brymo
• ‘Ire’ – Adekunle Gold

17.  ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• About 30 – Adekunle Gold
• Outside – Burna Boy
• Moral Instruction – Falz (Winner)
• No Bad Songz – Kizz Daniel

18.  ARTISTE OF THE YEAR

• Burna Boy (Winner)
• Wizkid
• Davido
• Tiwa Savage
• Falz

19.  SONG OF THE YEAR

• ‘Ye’ – Burna Boy (Winner)
• ‘Dumebi’ – Rema
• ‘Wetin We Gain’ – Victor AD
• ‘Fake Love’ – Starboy ft Duncan Mighty, Wizkid
• ‘Case’ – Teni
• ‘Leg work’ – Zlatan
• ‘Baby’ – Joeboy
• ‘Jealous’ – Fireboy DML

20.  HEADIES’ VIEWER’S CHOICE

• Mr Eazi
• Burna Boy
• Teni (Winner)
• Fireboy DML
• Rema
• Joe Boy
• Wizkid
• Davido

21.  BEST PERFORMER (Non-voting category)

• Falz
• Tiwa Savage
• Brymo
• Yemi Alade (Winner)
• Adekunle Gold

22.  ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

• Crayon
• Buju
• Barry Jhay ( Winner)
• Oxlade

23. SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD

Paul Okoye

23.  AFRICAN ARTISTE RECOGNITION

• Master KG – Skeleton Moves (SOUTH AFRICA)
• Afro B – Drogba (Joanna) (IVORY COAST)
• Sauti Sol – Melanin (KENYA)
• King Promise – CCTV (GHANA) (WINNER)
• DJ Maphoriza – iWalk Ye Phara (SOUTH AFRICA)

Morocco’s rugged Rif Mountains have long been renowned for their cannabis but traditional varieties are being smoked out by foreign hybrids offering higher yields and greater potency.

The local strain of marijuana, known as Beldiya, is coveted by afficionados but is gradually disappearing from the fields in the kingdom.

Nowadays in Ketama, a region in the heart of the northern Rif, a strain called “Critical” is king.

Hicham, a 27-year-old cannabis farmer, says that he grows Critical because “the new imported seeds give a much higher yield.”

Major cannabis producers decide what to plant and “hybrid plants have become a market all on their own,” said Moroccan anthropologist Khalid Mouna, who has written a thesis on the economics of Ketama’s cannabis production.

READ: Morocco’s last woman-potters hope on social media for survival

Critical, which Mouna said comes from the Netherlands, is the latest hybrid created in laboratories in Europe or North America to be introduced to Morocco.

With names like “Pakistana”, “Amnesia” and “Gorilla”, hybrids are popular for their potency and affordability. 

Critical sells for 2,500 dirhams per kilo, while Beldiya goes for up to 10,000 dirhams per kilo, local sources told reporters. 

Buoying production – 

Morocco has long been a leading producer and exporter of hashish — refined cannabis resin — even though the production, sale and consumption of drugs is illegal in the country.

READ: Sand Miners threaten Morocco’s coastline

A quarter of hashish seizures worldwide originated from Morocco between 2013 and 2017, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

While Morocco’s cannabis cultivation is falling, the adoption of hybrids means hashish production has remained stable.

In 2003, 134,000 hectares were under cannabis cultivation, falling to 47,500 hectares by 2011 under a large official reconversion programme, according to a 2015 study by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT).

But modern hybrid strains produce five to 10 kilos (11 to 22 pounds) of hashish per quintal, a traditional unit of weight equivalent to 100 kilos, compared to a single kilo for kif, as local cannabis is known.

“The substitution of hybrids for kif might explain why the production of Moroccan hashish has barely decreased,” the study said.

Livelihood –

In Ketama, kif is part of the culture.

Producing it and smoking it are tolerated by the authorities and its cultivation provides a livelihood for 90,000 to 140,000 people in an otherwise deprived region known for its poor soil.

People in the area told reporters that it was mostly traffickers or intermediaries who bought the cannabis harvest for smuggling to Europe or other Moroccan towns.

READ: Lesotho is pioneering Africa’s medical cannabis industry

Hicham divides his time between his cannabis field and a cafe, where he and his friends smoke joints and watch satellite TV — a distraction from unemployment, he says.

In this rural region, job prospects are rare, with one in four young people unemployed, according to official figures.

Hicham and his friends all left school early to support their families, and many have left for Europe in search of work.

Those who stay mostly work seasonally for large cannabis growers, earning about 100 dirhams per day for a month or two at a time.

Most lack the money to get set up and work for themselves.

Environmental cost –

The high yields of imported hybrid cannabis plants come at a cost, however.

The strains require heavy fertilization, which can damage the soil. And their insatiable thirst threatens the region’s water supplies, according to the OFDT.

Critical grows in the dry summer, requiring heavy irrigation, while Beldiya is planted in winter, depending only on rainfall.

Some locals complain that major producers enforce the planting of hybrids even in arid areas. 

“The traffickers impose it and the people don’t have any other choice,” says Mohamed Benyahya, a local community figure.

To water their plantations, major producers install solar pumps on the roofs of their mansions.

Not far from Hicham’s local cafe, a vast terraced cannabis plantation sprawls up a nearby mountain. 

Rows of carefully maintained plants are watered by drip irrigation via a network of pipes connected to a reservoir.

To legalise, or not –

Hybrids like Critical are notable also for high levels of THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive chemical. 

The adoption of hybrids explains the “rapid and significant increase in the average THC content” of seized Moroccan hashish, according to the OFDT.

For smokers, the effect compared to Beldiya is pronounced. “One makes you think, the other makes you paranoid,” says Mohamed, a friend of Hicham.

READ: Kenya denies it has given a US company licence to produce cannabis

“European consumers no longer want hybrid cannabis on account of its high THC levels,” Mouna said. 

“Traditional Moroccan cannabis remains highly coveted, particularly by advocates of legalisation.”

Cannabis decriminalisation remains controversial in the conservative country. 

Proposals to legalise cannabis have so far met fierce political opposition.

For Mouna, legalisation could help regulate cannabis consumption while also preserving the more traditional and environmentally friendly Beldiya.

And, while Hicham may have switched to growing Critical, he still only smokes Beldiya.

“The modern varieties,” he says, “are mediocre.”

The famous Afro Pop sensation, Ayo Balogun popularly known as Wizkid has had his fair share of celebrity controversies. Ranging from his cold relationships with his baby mamas to his alleged affair with Tiwa Savage, the list is endless. It will be safe for anybody to conclude that he has not only been on the news for music but also for the many controversies hanging around his name.

Wizkid and Tiwa Savage

Relationship rumours sparked off between the star boy and the ‘kelekele love’ crooner, Tiwa Savage as the two started attending events and appearing on music videos together all of a sudden. With many bashing Tiwa Savage for dating a much younger guy. But the interesting thing is, since the rumours started making waves, neither Wizkid nor Tiwa Savage has come out to refute the many claims of amorous relationship between them. In the usual Wizkid manner, he has greeted these rumours with absolute  silence. 

Pay Attention: A musical tribute to Nigerian mothers

It got to a point where Tiwa Savage’s ex husband, Tee Bills had to come in on the matter and made it clear to anybody who cared to listen that, Wizkid could not have anything to do with the mother of his child, as according to him, Wizkid respects him just so much to ruin such a wonderful relationship they have. But what is interesting is, Tiwa Savage has opened up on their relationship during a recent interview with Beats FM, saying that they are ‘friends with benefits’ because they accompany each other to events.

View this post on Instagram

@tiwasavage on the #MorningRush with @osi_suave x @olisaadibua as she discusses her current and upcoming projects, getting an international deal, personal issues and of course if she is dating wiz or what kind of friends? 😊😊😊

A post shared by The Beat 99.9 Fm (@thebeat999fm) on Oct 3, 2019 at 5:02am PDT

Joro – Wizkid’s latest jam

Wizkid’s latest single ‘Joro’ has attracted a lot of reactions. Both positive and negative. While some said it’s a spiritual song that goes straight to one’s soul, others have trashed the song as being lyrically empty. It has been further criticized on the basis of the timing of its release as many said it’s insensitive to release such a song at the time Nigeria was celebrating her independence, which should be a time of sober reflection for Nigerians.

However, since the release, the song has enjoyed hundreds of views and downloads on various music sites and platforms. it garnered 1.7 million views on YouTube just after 4 days of its release.

Wizkid and Jada Pollock

Recall that a few months ago Wizkid’s third baby mama and manager Jada Pollock announced on instagram that she has called it quits with the singer on the basis of domestic violence. She announced that she would no longer be working with the father of her baby as things would no longer flow well between them, courtesy of Wizkid’s abusive nature. 

Pay Attention: Nigeria’s apex bank partners Lagos on ₦22 billion national theatre renovation

However,in a funny twist of events, Jada Pollock completely denied ever making such accusation against Wizkid. She claimed the accusation which was made via her Instagram account @_jada.p did not come from her as she alleged her account was hacked by an intruder. Her subsequent denial of authoring the post  amused as well as infuriated a lot of Instagram users who were of the opinion that she was such an unintelligent liar!

‘Starboyfest’

The much anticipated StarBoy Fest is barely 2 weeks away. The event which is expected to record large turn out of fans and music lovers all over England, will take place on the 18th and 19th of October 2019  in Manchester and London consecutively. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster