Nominations for the upcoming 20th anniversary MOBO Awards were announced. The much anticipated awards will be held in Leeds on Wednesday 4th November at the First Direct Arena.
For the first time UK Grime and Hip Hop acts have dominated the MOBO nominations list scooping a whopping 27 nominations across all MOBO categories announced at legendary London jazz venue Ronnie Scott’s.
Broadcaster and DJ Sarah-Jane Crawford – who will be hosting the celebrity packed awards – also announced nominations in the Best Song category for international artists Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson for the massive hit Uptown Funk and Tinie Tempah and Jess Glynne for Not Letting Go.
Thousands of tickets were snapped up just days after the announcement at this year’s Leeds West Indian Carnival, that the awards will take place at the state of the art FD Arena which has played host to international stars including Prince, Pharrell Williams, John Legend, Lionel Richie and Paloma Faith.
The glittering event will be staged in the city for the first time in the MOBO Awards history, with the support of Leeds City Council and Leeds Business Improvement District.
Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council said,
“Leeds is extremely proud to host the 2015 MOBO Awards – such a prestigious event that really endorses the city’s cultural ambitions and strengthens our bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2023.”
Leeds Business District Improvement Chief Executive, Andrew Cooper added,
“Leeds Business Improvement District is demonstrating its ambition to work collaboratively to attract new events which showcase the city’s venue, hospitality and retail offer while underpinning its diversity.”
This year’s MOBO Awards will be broadcast live on ITV2 and repeated in full on ITV.
Performances for the MOBO Awards will be announced over the coming weeks and will include a rare televised performance from FKA twigs who copped three nominations for Best Female and two Best Video nominations for Pendulum and Glass and Patron.
Hip hop titans Krept & Konan will also take to the stage for a special performance as well as leading the nominations with four nods including Best Album for The Long Way Home which made history by becoming the highest charting UK hip hop record when it debuted at #2 in the national charts.
MOBO Founder and CEO Kanya King also announced the first recipient of the inaugural MOBO Paving the Way award in partnership with ITV2, established to honour trailblazers’ achievements and influence across the creative industries.
Rapper and producer Wiley a pioneer of grime music who has notched up massive Top 10 hits including 2010’s Never Be Your Woman with Naughty Boy and Emeli Sandé and the 2012 chart-topper Heatwave, is the first of a number of recipients of the Paving the Way Award to be announced in the lead up to November’s red carpet awards.
Tickets for the 2015 MOBO Awards are available via www.mobo.com/tickets
