King Kano and Queen Laura Mvula Reign Supreme at this year’s MOBO Awards Nominations

** Kano picks up FOUR nominations including Best Male, Best Album and Best Grime Act **

** Laura Mvula is also up for FOUR nominations including Best Female and Best Album **

** Skepta scores three nominations: Best Male, Best Album and Best Grime Act **

** Craig David’s triumphant return to music is sealed with coveted nominations for Best Male and Best Song **

Chase & Status confirmed to perform at MOBO Awards in Glasgow

More superstar performers will be announced soon…

MOBO Awards 2016 takes place in The SSE Hydro, Glasgow on
Friday 4 November

Broadcast live on ITV2 and repeated on ITV
#MOBOAWARDS

WED 21 SEPTEMBER: London, England – Grime king KANO leads the pack with four titan nominations at this year’s MOBO Awards for Best Male, Best Album, Best Song and Best Grime Act. This is already shaping up to be one of Kano’s most triumphant years, with the release of his first album in six years –“Made in The Manor” – peaking at #8 on the UK Album Charts, making it his highest-charting album yet. The rapper last took home a MOBO in 2005 for Best Newcomer.

LAURA MVULA shows everyone why she is the queen of this year’s MOBO Awards with her name in four coveted categories: Best Female, Best Album, Best R&B/Soul Act and Best Video. The Birmingham soul artist took home two MOBO Awards in 2013 for Best Female and Best R&B/Soul Act, where she also performed at the star-studded ceremony in Glasgow. She is nominated again for Best Female this year, alongside strong contenders like LADY LESHURR, LITTLE SIMZ, KATY B and NAO.

Fresh from his internet-breaking Mercury Prize win, SKEPTA picks up three nominations at this year’s MOBO Awards for Best Male, Best Album for “Konnichiwa” and Best Grime Act.

Garage music superstar CRAIG DAVID continues his blazing comeback streak, earning two major MOBO Awards nominations for Best Male and Best Song for ‘When The Bassline Drops’ (featuring Big Narstie). The MOBO Awards were the first to recognise Craig’s talents, giving him his first awards in 2000 for Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act. Since his debut on our stage 16 years ago, Craig David has gone on to sell 15 million albums, scored 16 Top Ten hits and multi-platinum sales in more than 20 countries. 

Making his MOBO debut is British soul musician MICHAEL KIWANUKA who has enjoyed a successful year with his critically-acclaimed UK #1 album “Love & Hate” featuring the infectious ‘Black Man in a White World’. Michael is up for Best Album and Best R&B/Soul Act.

Elsewhere, music superstars of tomorrow championed in the tastemaker-favoured Best Newcomer category are AJ TRACEY, ANNE-MARIE, IZZY BIZU, NADIA ROSE, RAY BLK, 67, AVELINO, MOSTACK, KOJEY RADICAL, and WSTRN. Previous winners of the MOBO Newcomer award include RITA ORA, KANO, ESTELLE, TINIE TEMPAH and MS DYNAMITE who have all gone onto have ground-breaking, successful careers.

The PRE-MOBO AWARDS event will return for the second year, taking place on Thursday 27 October at Cadogan Hall, London. Following huge success of the inaugural event in 2015, this gala is set to take the celebrations to a whole new level in the capital. 

This year’s MOBO Awards are taking place on Friday 4 November and will be broadcast live on ITV2 and repeated on ITV. This will be the third year of the broadcast partnership between MOBO and ITV. 

Arena tickets for the MOBO Awards are on general sale via www.mobo.com/tickets and www.thessehydro.com and vary from £25 to £45 (excl. handling charge). VIP table tickets are available from www.mobo.com/viptickets.

Remember, remember the 4th of November!

Join the conversation #MOBOAWARDS

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…//ends

For further information please contact:

David Lim / [email protected]

0207 436 3633

Jack Delaney / [email protected]

0207 436 3633

Vannessa Amadi-Ogbonna / [email protected]

0208 558 8558

Editors Notes

*** Download MOBO Awards performance clips and video content ****
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The MOBO Best Album award winner will be decided by the MOBO Panel. The panel consists of 300 people: a representation of the whole music industry, including record label reps, DJs, journalists, artists, songwriters, video directors etc.

The MOBO Awards were established in 1996 by Kanya King MBE to motivate, elevate and celebrate the outstanding achievements of artists in publically underappreciated genres, from soul and reggae to hip hop, grime and afrobeats. 

A pioneer in its field, MOBO is revered as a world-leading urban music brand that successfully champions diversity and inclusivity in music and broader cultural arenas.  Now in its 21^st year, MOBO is not just an event – it is a movement.

It strives to support emerging and independent talent and has backed some of our nation’s most-loved artists down through the years from Tinie Tempah, Amy Winehouse and Emeli Sande to Laura Mvula, Skepta and many more. Beyond the realms of music, MOBO pursues its mission to create more opportunities and platforms for talent in film, TV, fashion, art and media that might otherwise go unnoticed.

A drive to deliver social and cultural change is embedded in the organisation’s DNA. With a tried and tested talent development programme, a number of Executive Fellowships in the workplace and a host of annual training and educational opportunities for young people, MOBO influences the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every year.

From chart-topping acts and grassroots artists to aspiring apprentices, MOBO is there to empower and nurture potential within the wider community.

For more information, visit www.mobo.com

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