Since its inception in 1996, the UK MOBO Awards (Music Of Black Origin) honors music and entertainment of Black origin by highlighting artists and genres from Hip-Hop, Grime, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Gospel, African music, and now entertainment beyond just music such as Best Performance in a TV Show / Film and Best Media Personality. The MOBO Awards return for the first time in three years on Wednesday, December 9 at 7 PM UK time. The virtual ceremony will be hosted by broadcaster Maya Jama and YouTube creator and comedian Chunkz live on the MOBO Awards YouTube channel. The Orchard is proud to work alongside ten nominees for the 2020 MOBO Awards!
In this year alone, British drummer, producer, and composer Moses Boyd has been named AIM’s UK Independent Breakthrough Artist of the Year, shortlisted for the Hyundai Mercury Prize, and is now nominated for ‘Best Jazz Act’ at the 2020 MOBO Awards. This is the third time Boyd has been nominated for ‘Best Jazz Act’ at the MOBO Awards, following his 2015 and 2017 nomination for the same category.
As the MOBO Awards didn’t air in 2018 and 2019, they decided to include an additional one-off category to highlight the best albums released from September 1, 2017 – August 31, 2019: Best Album (2017 – 2019). Included in this one-off category is Skepta’s groundbreaking 2019 album Ignorance Is Bliss (Boy Better Know). Skepta isn’t the only distributed Grime artist that made the nomination list this year. P Money, Manga Saint Hilare, as well as Skepta’s own label signee JME (Boy Better Know) make up three of the five nominees in the Best Grime Act category. Be sure to vote for your favorite Grime Act and other publicly voted categories such as Song of The Year, Best Newcomer (in association with Arts Council England), Best African Act (in association with Afrozons), and Best International Act.
Tune in to the MOBO Awards’ YouTube channel on Wednesday, December 9 at 7PM UK time to catch the full award ceremony. Find all The Orchard distributed nominations below and the full list of MOBO nominees here.
Video of the Year
Jorja Smith – “By Any Means” (FAMM)
Best Album (2017 – 2019)
Skepta ‘IGNORANCE IS BLISS’ (Boy Better Know)
Best Gospel Act
Guvna B (Allo Mate Records)
Best Jazz Act
Moses Boyd (Exodus Records)
Yazmin Lacey (Own Your Own Records)
Ego Ella May (UpperRoom Records)
Best Grime Act
JME (Boy Better Know)
P Money (P Money)
Manga Saint Hilare (Manga Saint Hilare)
Best RnB/Soul
WSTRN (WSTRN Ltd.)
Best African Act
NSG (NSG Entertainment)
