Tom Talks #1: The MOBO Awards

 

Last week, saw the return of the MOBO Awards, the place to see the hottest talents in the UK and International scene, that create music of black origin. (it's kind of in the title!) As always there is winners and snubs to discuss, but despite the emergence of other award shows like the GRM Rated Awards, the MOBO's is still one of the hottest awards shows in the UK and was excellently presented by Maja Jama and Chunkz, who had great chemistry, with witty jokes and small talk, keeping viewers interested in between performances and award presentations.

When it came to the awards I was not happy with all winners, but overall I was satisfied with who won the prizes. THE BIG ONE, was Album of the Year which went to Nines, for his project 'Crabs In A Bucket' an album which I have a lot of time for with a great choice in  production and his bars on his struggle between life on the block and living his dream of being a rapper. While I did thoroughly enjoy this LP, I have gone back more to J Hus' 'Big Conspiracy' with it's collection of bangers with influences from across the globe and the beautiful self-titled project by Lianne Le Havas, which chronicles the timeline of a relationship so majestically. Like many of the awards, I was not annoyed as all albums on the list I enjoyed to some degree, (Mahalia-Love and Compromise and Stormzy-Heavy Is The Head were also nominated) yet the winner had better rivals and this was a similar feeling I had throughout the night.

This was also the case with Headie One, the winner of Best Male, an artist who showed much promise with his innovative and eeery 'GANG' project with Fred again.. and his debut album EDNA, including bangers like 'Ain't It Different.' J Hus for me was wrongfully overlooked again, as was Nines this time out, for they both made more memorable music then Headie, which people will continue to stream and stream and think about late into the night, when it comes to the meaning of the lyrics. Just as Hus was robbed in Best Male, Lianne was in Best Female, with Mahalia winning the first of her two awards on the night. Mahalia does indeed have catchy hits like 'I Wish I Missed My Ex' and 'Simmer,' but for me, bar her great voice and catchy tunes, she pales in comparison to Lianne and her beautiful new project or even the Art pop and experimental nature of FKA Twigs on her recent project 'Magdalene.' There's no doubt that Headie and Mahalia are the two most popular artists on either list, but I ask, are they the most talented?

Popularity seems to be the word of the day, as Aitch won Best Newcomer, which in fairness was voted for by the general public, so the most popular act was going to win. Aitch for me isn't really a newcomer and someone like the incredibly talented Pa Saileu was more deserving of the award or someone rising up in the scene like Miraa May or Ivorian Doll, but Aitch is a talented freestyler and has made some catchy hits like 'Rain' and '30', so I ain't mad at cha people. (not with this award anyway.) Best Media Personality though, that's a different kettle of fish, as my boy Munya Chawawa was robbed. This guy has been on the ball, all year long with his comedic skits and Unknown P is a superior version of Big Shaq when it comes to comedy rap. Maybe I don't get the appeal of the Beta Squad content, but against competition like Harry Pinero, KSI, Mo Gilligan and of course Munya, Chunkz is nowhere near the talent level of these boys.

The next few awards put me at ease with the incredibly catchy 'Don't Rush' by Young T & Bugsey and Headie One winning Song of the Year, a track I have had on repeat all year, despite competition from the hugely popular Tion Wayne track 'I Dunno' and Digga D's iconic 'Woi.' (That Woi, Woi, Woi, Woi, Woi chorus is stuck in my head!) Best Grime Act went to JME, who's 'Grime MC' was a great project and despite my love for Ghetts' new tracks 'Mozambique' and 'IC3,' I believe the correct decision was made.

It wasn't long before I had a disagreement with the Judging panel again, with Nines winning Best Hip-Hop act, which I'd be fine with if the lyricist extraordinaire Potter Payper wasn't nominated, who has made some incredible music since exiting the Prison gates. Wizkid winning Best African Act seemed a little disappointing to me, when much more talented artists like Burna Boy and Tiwa Savage were on the list. (Miss Savage gave a very good performance on the night and she will be someone I keep my eyes on for future music.) And to top it all off, Ella Mai won Best Album of 2017-19 for her fairly average self titled project, despite classics being on that list like Dave-'Psychodrama', Little Simz-'Grey Area' and one of my favorite albums of all time, 'Hoodies All Summer' by Kano. I have much love for the latter, so to see such a bang average project win that award really ticked me off, I'm not gonna lie!

To round up the rest, Mahalia robbed Lianne again by winning Best R'N'B/Soul Act; JAE 5 won Best Producer, who was behind that great new J Hus album; NSG won Best Video for Lupita; BAFTA award winning Michael Ward won Best Performance in a TV Show/Film for his performance in Blue Story, Burna Boy won Best International Act after being snubbed for Best African Act and Buju Banton won Best Reggae Act. Other winners on the night were Calledout Music and Ego Ella May for Gospel and Jazz act respectively. (I don't know who they are, whoops, more research needed!)

Finally I must highlight the show and performances' for highlighting not only Black Lives Matter, but SARS in Nigeria and the protests in Uganda, whilst also inspiring positivity, such as the performance by the Wordsmiths. (you've got to love a bit of spoken word.) I was happy to see them giving performance slots to smaller artists like the hugely talented Kojey Radical (please go check him out) and artists like Shaybo who I am eager to here more from. Of course the big hitters performed too, like Headie One and the fantastic voice of H.E.R., so there was a good variety in that sense.

It was great to see the MOBO's back, for me still the biggest awards show when it comes to UK Hip-Hop, R'N'B and other international genre's like Afrobeats, Reggae and Jazz. It was a fun ceremony despite the pandemic, full of powerful performances and while I wasn't happy with all the winners, I was left fairly happy with those awarded on the night. (I'm still mad about Ella Mai!) Remember to leave a comment and stay tuned for another Tom Talks!