Kanya King, Queen of the MOBOs

It’s 7pm on a Friday night and while most of us are winding down for the weekend Kanya King, the dynamic founder of the Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards has hours of work ahead of her. But hers is no average nine-to-five. In the weeks running up to the prestigious annual affair, the half-Irish, half-Ghanaian media mogul is juggling calls from the press, the public, artist liaison and show sponsors all at the same limited time. Yet after eleven years of organising the hottest event on the British music calendar King still has a palpable passion for her job.

King is a warm and personable character who is graceful under obvious pressure. As a businesswoman and role model she takes her responsibilities seriously and speaks freely about her steady rise up the corporate ladder. “We’re always looking for new ways to innovate and new categories to incorporate,” King says, in response to a question about the African Music award that’s running for the second year. “The African music category came at the right time. It was a big year for Africa in 2005 and African music is getting bigger every year so we have to respond to the mood of the market. Also, the MOBOs being the music of black origin started in Africa so it’s only right to have an African category.”

2005 was a landmark year for African music. MTV launched its regional satellite MTV Base Africa at the beginning of the year and later introduced the Best African Music Act award at the MTV Europe VMAs. This year’s contenders for the Best African Act MOBO award, which was also introduced in to the MOBO portfolio in 2005 include Nigerian artist Tony Tetuila and Ghanaian raglife star Batman. Asked whether she has a favourite in the fiercely contested category King shies away from any cultural nepotism, laughs and says diplomatically, “I couldn’t possibly say.” SA.

(© This is an edited extract from the forthcoming issue of What's On Ghana magazine, on sale mid-September 2006)