Graft has been crowned the winner of MOBO UnSung 2018.

MOBO CEO Kanya King announced the musician was the champion of the 2018 edition of the annual emerging talent competition at the MOBO UnSung showcase in London last night (February 27).

Hailing from Leeds, the musician, who describes the music he produces as very versatile, ranging from Grime, Rap and Hip Hop to R&B and Soca, beat stiff competition from fellow artists in the MOBO UnSung 2018 Top 3, Ike Chuks and Fred Fredas.

Graft now joins previous MOBO UnSung winners which include Alika, MiC Lowry, Esco Williams and more.

We want to send a shout out to all the 11 incredible MOBO UnSung 2018 finalists – Estee Blu, Fred Fredas, Fonzie, Graft, Harris Hameed, Ike Chuks, Jordz The Jay, Kris Evans, Marika, Sakyi 4 and Suelily, who we’re sure have all got an incredible future ahead of them. 

With support from PRS Foundation and Arts Council, MOBO UnSung has established itself as one of the country’s strongest talent competitions for unsigned artists producing original work. Since 2014, the competition has gone from strength to strength and championed creative individuals who may not be household names in their field but are already showing great promise.

Having faced a Jugding Panel of music industry professionals, which included MOBO Award and Mercury Prize nominated artist Novelist, Complex UK editor Joseph ‘JP’ Patterson, as well as representatives from Tileyard Music, TuneCore and PRS Foundation, the nationwide search culminated in 11 incredible finalists, known as the MOBO UnSung Class of 2018, and later the MOBO UnSung Top 3, which consisted of Ike Chuks, Fred Fredas and Graft for 2018.

The MOBO UnSung Class of 2018 have already embarked on a year-long artist development program of industry and production workshops, including a masterclass with platinum-selling song writer Carla Marie Williams, seminars in association with PRS for Music, studio time at Tileyard Studios and live performance filming at EUTC amongst many other opportunities, facilitated by MOBO, to help them make their mark in music whilst helping to develop their career ambitions.

As the winner of MOBO UnSung 2018, Graft will not only receive access to these opportunities, but a MOBO UnSung bursary backed by PRS Foundation to help fund an aspect of development of his own choosing, a distribution package from TuneCore, the chance to create a music video produced by Link Up TV and a song writing session with multi MOBO Award Winner Craig David!

For those who wish to enter the next edition of our MOBO UnSung competition, we will be making announcements very soon, so stay tuned! To find out more, please click here.

Check out our latest YouTube series featuring live performances and interviews from the class of MOBO UnSung 2018 right here.