Mobo Award Winners

The Mobo Awards have always been somewhat controversial and this year was no different. In the end the ceremony made for a spectacular evening of entertainment and a number of great artists were honoured for their role in the music industry.

Mobo is an acronym for Music Of Black Origin. The Mobo Awards were established in 1995 by Andy Ruffell and Kanya King MBE and have since been held annually in the U.K. The idea behind the awards is to recognize artists of any race or nationality who are currently performing music of black origin. This year it was Chris Brown, Estelle and Leona Lewis who took home the most awards.

Previous years have seen the Mobos being criticized for not drawing enough attention from the U.S. But this year it seems it was U.K. stars that were not attending. The Mobos are Britain’s biggest urban music awards and most musicians consider it a huge honour to receive a Mobo Award. U.S. singer Chris Brown was one of the musicians who went home with two awards in his pocket. He received the ‘Best International Act’ award and the ‘Best R&B/Soul’ award. British songstress Leona Lewis was given the award for ‘Best Video’ (Bleeding Love) and ‘Best Album’ (Spirit). She chose not to attend the ceremony and instead accepted her awards via video link. The crowd was not amused. In stark contrast, Estelle cancelled a concert in the U.S. in order to attend the event. She was given the ‘Best U.K. Female’ award and the ‘Best Song’ award (American Boy). Dizzee Rascal received the ‘Best UK Male’ award for the second straight year.

Other winners include: Chipmunk (Best UK Newcomer), Mavado (Best Reggae), YolanDa Brown (Best Jazz), Jahaziel (Best Gospel), 9ice (Best African Act), Lil’ Wayne (Best Hip Hop), Trevor Nelson (Best Radio DJ) and Tim Westwood (Best Club DJ). Mary Wilson, a former Supreme, was on hand to collect the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Motown in honour of the label’s 50th anniversary. She also sang during the event and performed with the Sugarbabes. The BeMOBO Special Award was given to Ricky McCalla.