London rapper Nines bags prestigious Album of The Year and Best Hip Hop Act accolades

Mahalia scoops up Best Female Act (in association with ISAWITFIRST) and Best R&B/Soul Act, and Headie One wins
Best Male Act

Mancunion rapper Aitch wins Best Newcomer (in association with Arts Council England)

Nottingham duo Young T & Bugsey win Song of The Year for their viral sensation ‘Don’t Rush’ (featuring Headie One)

Nigerian stars conquered this year’s ceremony with Burna Boy winning Best International Act and Wizkid scoring Best African Act (in association with Afrozons)… plus stellar live performances from Afrobeats royalties Davido and Tiwa Savage

Watch the Awards in full on MOBO’s YouTube channel youtube.com/mobotvofficial
And on BBC One at 10.45PM tonight, with highlights special available on BBC iPlayer

Featuring performances by Headie One featuring M Huncho, H.E.R., Ms Banks, Tiwa Savage, Davido, Stylo G, Kojey Radical,
Young T & Bugsey, Tiana Major9 and Shaybo

FULL LIST OF MOBO 2020 WINNERS BELOW

Download images from MOBO Awards 2020 here: https://bit.ly/MOBO2020

EMBARGOED, 8.30PM WED 9 DEC 2020: The MOBO Awards made a huge comeback tonight with a virtual ceremony, hosted by Maya Jama and Chunkz, live-streamed on YouTube (watch here: youtube.com/mobotvofficial) and broadcast on BBC One at 10.45pm, with a highlights special on BBC iPlayer tonight.

In a show like no other taking place in a year like no other, the UK’s biggest celebration of Black music reclaimed its power with a 90-minute spectacle that recognised the hottest new talent from around the globe, with some special performances that encapsulated the strength and pride of Black voices that underpinned 2020.

London rapper Nines received a whopping five nominations this year and took home the prestigious Album of The Year for Crabs In A Bucket, seeing off steep competition from Stormzy, J Hus, Lianne La Havas and Mahalia. In what feels like the perfect wrap-up to a winning year which saw him also score his first UK No.1 album, Nines was also crowned Best Hip Hop Act tonight, after first being nominated for this category at the MOBO Awards three years ago.

The ‘King of Drill’ Headie One loomed large at this year’s ceremony where he took home the coveted Best Male Act. The Tottenham-born rapper also locked in a slick medley performance of ‘Bumpy Ride’ with M Huncho and ‘Teach Me’, taken from his UK No. 1 debut album Edna. He also teamed up with Young T & Bugsey on the show for a performance of their smash ‘Don’t Rush’.

Mahalia scooped up Best Female Act (in association with ISAWITFIRST) and Best R&B/Soul Act – her first major music awards win following a consistently noteworthy rise in recent years. The Leicestershire-born rising star released her debut album, Love and Compromise, in 2019 which includes ‘Shimmer’ (featuring Burna Boy) and ‘What You Did’ (featuring Ella Mai).

In the hugely popular public voted categories, Mancunion rapper Aitch wins Best Newcomer (in association with Arts Council England) and while Nottingham duo Young T & Bugsey take home Song of The Year for their global viral hit ‘Don’t Rush’ (featuring Headie One). 

Nigerian music stars conquered the 2020 MOBO Awards with Burna Boy winning Best International Act and Wizkid scoring Best African Act (in association with Afrozons). The ceremony also featured two Afrobeats royalties – Davido and Tiwa Savage – delivering stellar performances, filmed outside the UK especially for the night.

Davido, who took home Best African Act in 2017, brought joyful vibes with his performances of ‘The Best’ and ‘FEM’ from his latest album A Better Time. Tiwa Savage brought powerhouse African queen energy to the stage performing her medley of hits ‘Koroba’ and ‘Dangerous Love’.

Acclaimed British filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen CBE was honoured with MOBO’s Inspiration Award tonight. The London-born director behind 12 Years A Slave, Hunger and Small Axe joins a prestigious line-up of past recipients of this award including Idris Elba OBE. McQueen said: “This is an extraordinary prize. Thank you so much. The MOBO Awards for me is part of the idea of Small Acts. When people didn’t want to recognise us, we recognised ourselves and that’s given me the inspiration to go forward.”

Kanya King, MOBO founder said: “I feel very proud about this year’s show which will go down in history because of its unique commentary and set of circumstances. We will archive it for future generations to watch and learn about the times we are currently in. I want to thank the BBC and YouTube for working together, all for the greater good. This wasn’t just an Awards show, this is an empowering show with a purpose that represents opportunity over inequality, that represents pride for an audience that often feels marginalised, that represents achievement against all odds. There will be new artists watching the show and because of it, and their lives and those of their families may be forever changed. Roll on our 25^th anniversary next year – let’s get ready to MOBOLISE!”

2020 MOBO AWARDS: A DIVERSE SHOWCASE OF BLACK MUSIC from DRILL to R&B and SOUL, AFROBEATS to DANCEHALL

One of the most exciting new voices in British rap, Kojey Radical, delivered a poignant performance specifically created for the MOBO Awards, titled ‘Good’, which references Black Lives Matter and highlighted the social justice movement this year.

The show also locked in special performances from London MC Ms Banks, who performed her brand new single ‘You Don’t Know’ for the first time, as well as ‘Snack’. Elsewhere, basking in their first awards show performances are rising British rap stars Young T & Bugsey, who dropped ‘New Shape’ and ‘Don’t Rush’, and Nigerian-born Shaybo who brought her signature blend of Yoruba wit with sharp South London realness on ‘Dobale’. Elsewhere Stylo G took the party atmosphere up a notch with his potent medley of dancehall tunes ‘Touch Down’, ‘X5’, ‘Oh Lawd’, ‘Dumpling’ and ‘Call Me A Yardie’.

Critically acclaimed R&B and soul artistes H.E.R. and Tiana Major9 brought spine-tingling vocal performances to the show – with H.E.R. performing her single ‘Damage’, and rising star Tiana Major9 performing ‘Same Space?’ from her debut EP At Sixes and Sevens. Earmarked by The Guardian earlier this year as ‘one to watch’, soul-jazz singer Tiana Major9 is certainly coming into her own this year. The East London talent was nurtured through MOBO’s emerging talent program, UnSung, where in 2014 she entered the talent competition and won an opportunity to perform on MOBO’s showcase tour, supported by The Arts Council England and PRS for Music Foundation. Fast-forward to today, the 24-year old is signed to Motown, nominated for a Grammy, and is gaining critical nods for her thoughtful blend of soul, jazz and reggae.

2020 MOBO AWARDS WINNERS

BEST MALE ACT

HEADIE ONE

BEST FEMALE ACT
(IN ASSOCIATION WITH ISAWITFIRST)

MAHALIA

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

NINES – ‘CRABS IN A BUCKET’

SONG OF THE YEAR [PUBLIC VOTED]

YOUNG T & BUGSEY FEAT. HEADIE ONE – ‘DON’T RUSH’

BEST NEWCOMER
(IN ASSOCIATION WITH ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND)
[PUBLIC VOTED]

AITCH

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

NSG – ‘LUPITA’ (DIRECTED BY KEVIN HUDSON)

BEST R&B/SOUL ACT

MAHALIA

BEST HIP HOP ACT

NINES

BEST GRIME ACT [PUBLIC VOTED]

JME

BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT [PUBLIC VOTED]

BURNA BOY

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SHOW/FILM [PUBLIC VOTED]

MICHEAL WARD AS MARCO – ‘BLUE STORY’

BEST MEDIA PERSONALITY [PUBLIC VOTED]

CHUNKZ

BEST ALBUM (2017 – 2019)
This is a one-off additional category just for this year’s MOBO Awards to highlight the best albums released from 1st September 2017 – 31st August 2019.

ELLA MAI – ‘ELLA MAI’

BEST AFRICAN ACT
(IN ASSOCIATION WITH AFROZONS)
[PUBLIC VOTED]

WIZKID

BEST REGGAE ACT

BUJU BANTON

BEST GOSPEL ACT
(IN ASSOCIATION WITH PREMIER GOSPEL)

CALLEDOUT MUSIC

BEST JAZZ ACT
(IN ASSOCIATION WITH BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC)

EGO ELLA MAY

BEST PRODUCER

JAE 5

INSPIRATION AWARD

STEVE MCQUEEN

An independent MOBO Awards judging panel of music connoisseurs determine the nominees and winners for the majority of categories, while six categories are public voted: Song of The Year, Best Grime Act, Best Newcomer (in association with Arts Council England), Best African Act (in association with Afrozons), Best International Act, Best Performance in a TV Show/ Film and Best Media Personality.

Follow MOBO Awards: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

Press contact – The Outside Organisation:

David Lim – [email protected]

Sope Soetan – [email protected]

Chris Goodman – [email protected]

About MOBO

Started in 1996 by Kanya King to celebrate the incredible talent making music of Black origin in the UK, the MOBO Awards quickly grew to become one of Europe’s biggest music award ceremonies with vast cultural influence. For more than 20 years, MOBO has honoured the artistic and technical achievements of exceptional British and international talent in Hip Hop, Grime, R&B and Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Gospel and Afrobeats. Throughout the year, MOBO supports emerging talent through its initiatives such as MOBO UnSung and the MOBO Help Musicians Fund, providing numerous talented individuals with support in progressing their music careers. The 2020 awards is a MOBO production in association with CC Lab.

About YouTube Music

YouTube Music is a new music app made for music listening, on top of the magic of YouTube: making the world of music easier to explore and more personalised than ever.  Whether you want to listen, watch or discover - all the ways music moves you can be found in one place - not just music videos, but official albums, singles, remixes, live performances, covers and hard-to-find music you can only get on YouTube.