Kanya King / MOBO

Kanya: I did cleaning jobs – MOBO chief on her struggle to make it

THE MOBO Awards might be a global brand now, but 13 years ago' it began life in a messy bedroom in Kilburn, north London – Source: Lester Holloway - NewNation

Kanya King, the youngest of nine children, came up with the idea of an award ceremony that would take black music to the masses.
She had just persuaded Carlton TV to screen her event, but the broadcaster put very little money into it. It was now up to this young single mum to raise the money and make it happen. And so the glamorous annual event was born. King's telephone manner gave the impression she had smart corporate offices, but the reality was very different. Often she was sitting in her bedroom in her PJ's.

But operating the business was nothing compared to the challenge of raising enough money to bring her vision to reality. King began by re-mortgaging her house. But that was not enough; she needed to find a lot more money, fast. 'It was a massive struggle at first: she said. 'I took on many jobs. I worked night and day; cleaning, promotional work, anything. I've done everything:

Those who have met King know a friendly, approachable, very normal and attractive woman. But when the opportunity came along to make her dream happen in the mid-1990s, King displayed a steely determination to grab her dream. In an era before MTV Base, 1Xtra or Channel U, her bank manager didn't know her house was being staked on an event aimed at honouring black music. For a young woman who had left school at 16 without any qualifications, she was gambling on her vision working.

There had been black music awards before but they were targeted specifically at the community and were bedeviled by bad organisation. King believed in the music she loved and was confident that high production values and professionalism would take the whole genre forward. She said: “I was surrounded by musicians that didn't have anywhere to perform. I didn't intend to go into the music business. I was talking about the need for someone else to promote it, but in the end I had to do it myself”.

The MOBO Awards grew rapidly and soon moved from the Connaught Rooms to the Royal Albert Hall, and' then to the Dome. Last year the event I was broadcast in 57 countries to a 250 million audience. On 15 October this year MOBO will move to Wembley Arena and once again promises to be one of the most star-studded glitzy events of the year. MOBO remains hugely popular because It keeps reinventing itself to remain relevant and continues to spread its' wings in many directions, not least Africa.

But the big project this year is to boost the Be-MOBO award, which celebrates heroes who work selflessly to improve their community. The award was won last year by Decima Francis of the Boyhood II Manhood Foundation. King has been keen to promote this, as well as moving MOBO in the direction of supporting arid offering practical advice to aspiring artists in areas like marketing themselves and royalty rights to get paid.

It has also become more democratic, with a new black music panel deciding the categories. King is also aware of the new age of the internet, where artists can blow up without the support of big record companies. King describes the awards as her “calling” and predicts there are more exciting times ahead. If that wasn't enough, the MOBO's will begin with a children's talent show this year. King, who was awarded an MBE, also credits her Irish mother Mary, who died earlier this year, as a key source of inspiration. So to was her father; Christian, a Ghanaian from a poor village who died when she was 13. “He came here with huge ideals and ambitions and wasn't able to achieve them. In many ways I feel I'm carrying that mantle; I'm carrying the torch for him?”

No doubt their spirits still swell with pride as they look from above at what their daughter has created out of nothing. Just a dream and good helpings of passion, energy, chutzpah and good humour.