The mobos sucked from day one..Any award show based on black music that doesnt give "earth,wind and fire" a lifetime achievement award deserves to die..ANYWAY KIDS STOP MAKING CHAVVY BEATS AND PICK UP A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT... LISTEN TO CAMEO,PATRICE RUSHEN,INCOGNITO AND EARTH,WIND AND FIRE....THEN BRING BACK FUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im a dj musician & id like to expand on this article..

I think the issue is that many of can recall when we had or started our own radio stations to promote our own undiluted music in conjunction with house parties & sound systems..

I thought the mobo was a continuation of this process of self promotion..But its seems like the mobo is just the industry patting itself on the back..

I would prefer to highlight the disparity between talent & careers in the uk .

Theirs an unfair disparity between who makes the most gains from music of black origin.

It's generally a white person or band at the top of the totem pole & the musical output is usually diluted or cloned....The innovative black acts & founders normally have a restricted range..

look at the white uk acts who have lengthy careers or immediate success & compare them to blacks.It's not a level field & they are not innovative..

Eg..

The artists / intact groups with 20 plus yrs longevity would be Eddie grant. Billy ocean ,Gabrielle, Joan armatrading.Sade. Aswad.Courtney pine.

I may have missed some but its still not a big list.

The most recent consistent acts would be Graig david,Leona lewis,Lemarr, Alex burke, Dizzy rascal & possibly ..Jamalia ,Beverly knight Corinne Bailey Rae.

compare that with the 20 plus year careers of say .

eg..Jamiriquai, Simply red, Lisa stansfield,Ub40,The police,Madness,Eric clapton,Led zeppelin. Coldcut,David bowie,Bwoy george ...

The recent Adele, Duffy, Amy,Joss stone etcs also have black producers etc behind the scene & are pushed as soul.But If their sales are low they can simply switch..

Black artists success or longevity is usually sustained by diluting their output & compromising their identity.. so low sales = end of contract..

Conclusion..

A white person performing black music has an adavantage, more range & markets because the industry allows these acts the option to flirt with black music.

They are entitled to their rewards & accolades. But I would appreciate it if they were to speak up about these things.

Element

I think Jesse j winning mobos are a disgrace its just cheasy pop music rebranded as r&b its got nothing to do with black or white I've watched the mobos since its started and it gets worse every year I think most of the performances are mimed now its certainly lost a lot of cred and probably aimed more at 9-18 year old white girls

What chance of a white person winning a music award in a black country. Fat chance. Is that also racism.
What about blacks winning awards in the rock,pop,classical,folk music industries. Are we tell them they cannot because they are black.
Finally don't forget that Britain is a predominately white country and not a black country. If you are so absorbed wih race then why not go and live in Jamaica or Nigeria.

and it always has been if we are honest. always too fixated on getting pop audiences interested which has meant they never really do a good job of celebrating black music that is outside the mainstream. just look at their categories - they change every year! they barely cover the spectrum of black music that there is. its like a black music ceremony made up by people who work at a pop or rock magazine. any show that has adele in the gospel category needs to take a long hard look at itself - i like her dont get me wrong, shes good, but thats just bizarre. the people behind the mobos dont seem to know about black music, so how can they show the diversity of black music that there is. even taking into account that black music in 2011 is incredibly 'white' and basically just pop on most levels (which is a problem for another article to address), this is why it will remain a sad failure. you cant have a black music award ceremony that is only interested in what listeners of radio 1 know. it is an automatic conflict.

Jessie J rocks ALL genres well. I am a proud American black person and I am rooting for Jessie J to get all five MOBO's. Can I play Jessie J music at a Blacks attended party??? Yes ....I can.

WHY ARE WE HATING ON OURSELVES?

I agree blacks should have been included in the showcase by MOBO. Perhaps they were merely trying to embrace their white counterparts who happen to be the current charttoppers, but over did it. I can't be sure. I am sure it needs to be addressed. How can MOBO disrespect the black artistes that have contributed so much over the years and count on MOBO for optimum recognition for their musical contribution to now be showcased as has beens to whites in these affairs? Why couldn't there be a creative approach to higlighting and promoting the event to include black and white artistes in the headliner?

in a way its how you look at it really. MUSIC OF BLACK ORIGIN literally meaning music that came from black people. katy b and wotsa name qualify, they do music taken from black people, they,ve done no wrong. What i disagree with is using them as highlights when other successful black artists could have been used.

MOBOS losts is identity...could not push a reggae artist? Afro Beats musician...funky house..its ridiculous

As an organiser of annual events in the past I just look and think......wow Kanya14 years and still going .... Hats off!Great achievement.

I'm not saying there are no casualties but in any battle there is always casualties .
Black Music in this country as I have seen it has been a battle - when I first started it was standard for a label to say - "We don't do black videos-TV won't play them-so there no point in paying for them" and what's more that was accepted ! We were part of a wave of performers in the Soul 2 soul era that broke that way of thinking. Amongst mid level record deals- so Kanya is one of the generals.People don't always like Generals some generals deserve the dislike others are just leaders who have persevered through governments and kings and queens to be given the same task.

"Help us win" is the task and Black music / Music of Black origin /Urban music - in this country needs more generals.It has many aliases because its a creative and like water running down a hill WILL find its way -onto airwaves TV stations /into schools /passed along as MP3's/ripped downloads/break dance classes every sunday/in adverts for lucozade/adverts for Cars/Music in film. In America it was called Black chart then Rhythm and Blues then Jazz the Be bop then R and B then Rap Hip Hop -it morphed in so many ways to get itself out there - in the UK it was Reggae- Drum and Bass-Ska-Uk Hip Hop-Jungle-Acid House-Acid Jazz-UK soul- Urban(these terms were always used when it wasn't really selling in a major truck load way because as soon as it sold huge it was termed "Pop" and re branded as having crossed over)But Music of Black origin will always find a way .

Now in this instance I will say that
Kanya had a dream and there will always be stuff that doesn't go quite to plan in any dream.But there will always be lots that does go to plan or infact goes EVEN better than planned and I'm all for dreamers who turn them into reality.I take a big picture view and dream big - I've had to - I'm from Walthamstow born in Hackney and I have sold a LOT of music - I have been to the Mobos many times and Glasgows Mobos in particular were brilliant this came after 12 years of hard graft from the dreamer they call Kanya.

I will go to many more too because.....

"No person has the right to rain on your dreams"

Martin Luther King.

MOBO needs a good old fashion facelift. It needs to shutdown, rethink, rebrand and relaunch as a prestigious enterprise. From Mastercard/C4 to Lebara/BBC3. After 16 years of service to 'black music' it to should be Black AMEX and prime time C4 or ITV by now!

Its a shame that it is constantly attacked, but something is missing from their formula and business model. It needs to be seen doing more all year round as a brand as opposed to knocking on peoples doors a few months before the event. The MOBO brand/logo should be prominent at other music and industry events. There should be a MOBO Academy supporting community activities and bringing fresh and new UK talent though annually. It needs to be an event that is internationally respected and staging events globablly.

good lord

As a young black woman I have come to understand that the only way I can be truly represented in this world is if I speak up. I haven't read the Voice newspaper for years...I'm here now to check in and see if there are any improvements...and there are not...If you are not connected to the black community how can you promote it?...How can you be its voice?...It's the same for the MOBO's. This isn't an issues it's a reality...Are any of these companies owned by the black community? If something is funded by another culture then how can it have any other identity? I'm not angry because as long as we have these outlets then my voice along with the next generation of black children will not need funded organisations we have the internet! A place where we can upload and tell the world about our culture. Where we will have our voices heard. Thank you to The Voice and MOBO's...but its time to step aside for the real black community.

How has MOBO become so misguided?? They have a WHOLE YEAR to prepare for this annual event and this is how they've decided to promote the event, which is supposed to be about black culture – by bringing in two white artists to hype up the show? What a slap in the face to artists like Estelle, who have been rep'ing our scene for so long. Jessie J's been around for two minutes and suddenly she epitomises 'music of black origin?' God only knows who Kanya King's advisors are but I think she needs some new ones! This event needs to go back to basics and provide that much-needed platform for black artists who, let's face it, still aren't getting the same level of exposure as white artists.

MOBO just goes from bad to worse. No, they never will be able to please all the people all the time, as was proven in previous years with the hoo-ha caused by them not having a gospel/ jazz/ soul category. But while I understand how difficult it might be for them to include every GENRE of black music, failing to promote black ARTISTS is just ridiculous. I think the pressure to appease corporate sponsors has meant the event has strayed further and further from what it was set up to do.

it would go down like dat in da states !!!!!!

"You wont go to the Country Music Awards and see lots of black musicians up for awards to lure in potential black buyers of country music.
Neither will you go to the Asian Music Awards and see Bollywood music represented by white or afro caribbean artists"

Exactly so why is it that we are the only race that seems ready to bow down easily and dilute our culture in order to be 'accepted' when others don't? We whine a lot as usual but have yet to develop a spine to deal with it after all these years.

Haven't watched MOBO for years - it lost is way a long time ago sucking up to the Yanks - RIP MOBO's you sold your soul to be accepted and you still haven't managed to get a prime time slot on tv shows how interested they are in our music.

Does anybody know who actually selects the MOBO's nominees because I don't?

The decision to have Jessie J and Katy B as the reps for this year's MOBOs says less about MOBO and more about the music industry. So much has been said over the past year or so about the success of black British talents like Chipmunk, Tinchy Stryder and Tinie Tempah. But looking at the British music scene as a whole, those guys are still small fry. Sadly, they don't have the same marketing pulling power as white stars and MOBO knows this.

Yep a real shame about the MOBO's. I think it's great that the MOBO's is still going, but it just seems the bigger it gets, the more it moves away from black culture. Look back a few years ago, there were stars like Beenie Man, R.Kelly and Wayne Wonder on the bill. A chance for black music fans to enjoy current hits we were used to. Jessie J and Katy B are not something the pirates or 'urban' stations are supporting.
All we need now is for bloody Reggie Yates to host with Fearne Cotton and it's over.
Well done The Voice for highlighting this and not running from it scared of them not advertising with you.

You wont go to the Country Music Awards and see lots of black musicians up for awards to lure in potential black buyers of country music.
Neither will you go to the Asian Music Awards and see Bollywood music represented by white or afro caribbean artists.
You hardly see a black artist feature well at The Eurovision, with Andy Abraham, who is quite a good singer in his own right, not so long ago finishing last, in a field of fairly ordinary untalented singers. His race played a role in his finishing position.

However at the Music Of Black Origin Awards, the white singers are beginning to dominate. It isnt even really promoting multiculturalism, if they want to do that, why not have more singers of mixed black and white origin to show how Britain is diverse?
Its like the fact music producers prefer to use white artists and sign them, and black singers feel compelled to skin lighten to get ahead.
White supremacy is alive and well in all areas of the music industry, and black is often pushed to the back. Even of the black music awards.

By stressing this issue about the music's 'origin', it seems MOBO has forgotten that the 'B' stands for black. Using white stars to represent black music is like an admission that those white singers have more value than, or are more worthy than any of the black singers that could have been chosen to fill those spots. You'd expect that from the Brit Awards, but for a black-owned company to make such a decision, it makes it all the more disappointing.