Kanya King, the founder of the Mobo Awards for Black British music, has died at the age of 57 | Mobos

Kanya King, the entrepreneur and tireless champion of Black British music who founded the Mobo Awards, has died aged 57 of colon cancer.

The news was announced by the Mobo Organisation, which said he died on Wednesday after a “brave and determined battle” with his illness.

“The music world has lost one of its fearless masters,” the statement continued. “What Kanya did was more than just an award ceremony. It was social justice. Mobo didn’t just celebrate black music; it embraced it, developed it, and showed its commercial and creative power to a world that often chose not to see it.”

Born to a Ghanaian father and an Irish mother in Kilburn, north of London, King was working as a TV analyst when he began to fill a gap in the market: an award ceremony that would celebrate Black British musicians who were sometimes overlooked by other industry events.

He restored his home to raise money for the first Mobo awards, held in 1996, and eventually turned it into a packed stadium event that has celebrated artists such as Stormzy, Dave and Olivia Dean in recent years.

More to follow…