The MOBO Awards is celebrating three decades of championing Black music and culture with a series of anniversary events, including a special BBC One programme and a commemorative tribute to its late founder, Kanya King CBE.<\/p>\n
The celebrations mark 30 years since the first MOBO Awards ceremony, which took place on November 18, 1996, at the New Connaught Rooms in London. What began as an awards platform has grown into an influential cultural institution, recognising generations of talent across R&B, hip-hop, grime, reggae, gospel, Afrobeats and other genres.<\/p>\n
One of the major highlights will be \u2018MOBO 30: Iconic Moments\u2019, a special programme set to air on BBC One on November 11 at 10:40 p.m. Presented by DJ Target, the programme will revisit some of the most memorable performances, defining moments and cultural milestones from the awards\u2019 30-year history. It will also celebrate the legacy of Kanya King, who passed away in June 2026.<\/p>\n
King founded MOBO with a vision to create a platform where Black music and talent could receive greater recognition. Her work helped establish an awards institution that has celebrated international stars while creating opportunities for emerging artists.<\/p>\n
As part of the anniversary, King will receive a commemorative MOBO Paving the Way stone at her former school, Queens Park Community School, on November 18. The tribute will recognise her contribution to music and culture, as well as the opportunities she created for generations of artists.<\/p>\n
The V&A East Storehouse will also unveil a special exhibition featuring memorabilia from the MOBO archive on November 18. The display will trace the organisation\u2019s journey since 1996 and remain open until summer 2027.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, MOBO\u2019s immersive installation at Outernet London, which explores three decades of the organisation\u2019s history and King\u2019s vision, will remain open to the public until November 18.<\/p>\n
The anniversary comes after the 2026 MOBO Awards took place in Manchester for the first time, with a sold-out ceremony at Co-op Live in March. Hosted by Eve and Eddie Kadi, the event featured appearances and performances from artists including Pharrell Williams, Olivia Dean, Shenseea, Tiwa Savage, Aitch, FLO, Slick Rick and Estelle.<\/p>\n
Beyond celebrating its history, MOBO says it remains committed to supporting the next generation through initiatives such as MOBO UnSung, MOBO Amplified and MOBOLISE.<\/p>\n
Thirty years after its founding, the organisation is using the milestone to celebrate not only the artists who have shaped its history but also the woman whose vision brought it to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The MOBO Awards is celebrating three decades of championing Black music and culture with a series of anniversary events, including a special BBC One programme and a commemorative tribute to its late founder, Kanya King CBE. The celebrations mark 30 years since the first MOBO Awards ceremony, which took place on November 18, 1996, at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[160],"class_list":["post-4701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","author-urbanafrica"],"authors":[{"term_id":160,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"urbanafrica","display_name":"URBANAFRICA","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-FFB50F59-0D6C-491C-BACA-64123F72D056.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-FFB50F59-0D6C-491C-BACA-64123F72D056.jpg"},"avatar_alt":"","avatar_decorative":"","author_category":"1","first_name":"Emmanuel","last_name":"I","user_url":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/","job_title":"","description":"Top journalist covering music, entertainment, arts, and culture, delivering breaking stories and deep insights that shape the global conversation."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4703,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4701\/revisions\/4703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4701"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africahalloffame.org\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}