Chella Calls Out the Headies Over Next Rated Snub, Names Mavo and Fido
Chella, the independent singer behind one of the most widely heard Afrobeats songs of the past two years, has publicly challenged the shortlist for the Next Rated award at the 18th Headies, arguing that his numbers outweigh those of two nominees who made the cut.
In remarks now spreading across social media, he did not hedge. “I’m bigger than Mavo and Fido. ‘My Darling’ has 80M+ Spotify streams, I have more international recognition than them, and I achieved it without an OG co-sign. I deserved a Headies Next Rated nomination. My song was the most Shazamed in the world.”
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The claim lands in a category that organisers unveiled on a Tuesday in late August, naming Fido, Fola, Llona, Mavo and Shoday. Chella was left out of Next Rated, although he was nominated for Digital Artiste of the Year.
This field also includes Asake, Ayra Starr, BNXN, Fola, Mavo, Seyi Vibez and Wizkid. The full list carries 213 nominations across 35 categories, drawn from music released between August 1, 2024, and April 30, 2026, the widest eligibility window in the awards’ history.
Chella, born Uzochukwu Michael Ikechukwu in Abia State, released “My Darling” in March of last year, and the song moved with unusual speed. Within a month, it had passed 10 million streams on Spotify and attracted more than 2.2 million videos on TikTok.
On April 25, it reached No. 1 on the global Shazam chart, displacing Doechii’s “Anxiety” and becoming only the fourth Nigerian song to hold the top spot. Its biggest single day on Spotify brought about 475,000 streams. Other platforms followed: more than 90 million streams on YouTube Music in under five months, and a place at No. 19 on the global year-end songs chart of TikTok, the only Nigerian record on that list.
The rise has been largely self-propelled. Chella broke through in 2024 with “Nyash na Nyash”, a debut that led to a November remix featuring Young Jonn, and he releases music independently. His videos, styled in the manner of silent-film comedy, have become part of his identity.
Mavo, born Oseremen Marvin, built his case on collaboration. He appears on “Money Constant” with DJ Maphorisa, DJ Tunez and Wizkid, a record that peaked at No. 6 on the global Shazam chart, as well as on “Body (danz)” with CKay and on the remix of “Shakabulizzy” with Davido.
The “Money Constant” feature began with a message from DJ Tunez in September, relayed on behalf of Wizkid, and Billboard later named Mavo its African Rookie of the Month. He collected seven Headies nominations, among them Digital Artiste of the Year, Best Male Artiste, Best Headies Collaboration, Rap Single and Viewers’ Choice, the last for “Escaladizzy” featuring Wave$tar. His Spotify profile shows roughly 3.7 million monthly listeners.
Fido, born Awosika Olayemi Josiah and raised in the Matogun neighbourhood, sang backup in a gospel church before his breakthrough. “Joy Is Coming”, released in late 2024 through Oosha Records and EMPIRE, became a New Year anthem on TikTok, reached No. 1 on Apple Music Nigeria and entered the top five of the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. It is nominated for Song of the Year and Afrobeats Single of the Year.
The remainder of the Next Rated field is led, by nominations, by Fola, born Folarin Odunlami, whose 10 nominations top the entire ceremony and include Album of the Year for Catharsis and Best R&B Album. Some commentators have argued that he sits in a different tier from the other nominees.
Shoday earned five nominations, including Song of the Year for “Hey Jago” with Poco Lee and Rahman Jago. Llona, a Rookie of the Year nominee at the previous ceremony and a Songwriter of the Year nominee for “Can’t Breathe”, completes the field.
The phrase “OG co-sign” refers to the public backing of an established star, a form of support Chella says he never had. Mavo has had two of them, in Wizkid and Davido, both former Next Rated winners: Wizkid took the award in 2011 and Davido in 2012.
Davido also presented the trophy to Odumodublvck at the last ceremony, in April of last year. Winners have received a Bentley Bentayga since 2022, a prize valued at more than N300 million (about $200,000).
Disputes over the category are part of its history. Tekno was disqualified from the 2016 race after refusing to honour the category or support its campaign, and Burna Boy reportedly left the 2013 ceremony after Sean Tizzle was named the winner.
No Next Rated winner will be named soon. On Saturday, October 10, organisers announced that the 18th ceremony, set for October 23 in Toronto, would move to April 10 and 11 so they could expand programming in Nigeria and Canada under the Road to the Headies banner.
The new dates include the Headies Global Trade and Investment Summit, and the theme remains “Africa to the World.” Organisers apologised to guests who had already made travel plans, and some fans voiced concern about the change.
The ceremony, run by Smooth Promotions and HipTV under chief executive Ayo Animashaun, marks the awards’ 20th anniversary and follows a missed ceremony last year.
No public reply from Mavo, Fido or the Headies organisers had surfaced at the time of writing.
