Kanya King obituary

Co-founder of the Mobo awards, which celebrate music of Black origin, as well as initiatives to encourage and recognise new talent

Kanya King, who has died aged 57 of colon cancer, was co-founder of the Mobo awards, which were set up in the UK in 1996 to celebrate music of Black origin. As CEO of the Mobo Organisation, which runs the awards and its various offshoots, King became one of the highest profile champions of Black music in the UK, while the awards themselves were credited by many Black artists with raising their profiles and boosting their careers – some even gave Mobo name-checks in their songs.

Modest in size to begin with, the first Mobos, which gave a best album award to Goldie, best jazz act to Courtney Pine and best international act to the Fugees, made an immediate impact. They were televised from the outset, with Lionel Richie performing and the soon-to-be prime minister Tony Blair in attendance at the first ceremony.

Within a couple of years the event had a regular spot at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and with moves between Channel 4, the BBC and ITV over the years, global viewing figures touched 250 million, making the venture a financial success as well as delivering on its cultural aims.

In contrast to some other music industry awards, the Mobos were also generally able to keep up with emerging musical trends – as in 2014, when Stormzy was named best grime act shortly ahead of his breakthrough the following year. King would add or subtract categories year by year to reflect directions of travel, always keen to encourage and recognise new talent and developments.

Born in Kilburn, north-west London, Kanya was one of the nine children of a Ghanaian father, Christian Ocloo, and an Irish mother, Mary (nee Folan). Her father died when she was 13, and at 16, having become a single mother to a son, she left South Kilburn school to work in various jobs, including waitressing and dishwashing, as a demonstrator of games at Hamleys toy shop and as a salesperson at the Ideal Home Exhibition.

Energetic and focused, she also harnessed her interest in music by becoming a small-time promoter of R&B and reggae gigs across London, investing some of the money she earned to set up the short-lived Black Music awards in 1992, her first attempt at a Mobo-like event.

By then King was also studying for a degree in English literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, but the struggle to balance home, work and university life eventually led to her dropping out after failing to attend the requisite number of lectures. Taking up a job as a trainee researcher for the ITV franchise company Carlton TV, she was soon promoted to be a senior researcher, while continuing to tout around the idea of a red carpet British awards ceremony that would promote Black music. “I just couldn’t understand why there wasn’t anything in this country to celebrate the music I grew up on,” she said. “In the end, after talking to many organisations and not feeling like anything was ever going to be done or that anyone was receptive to the idea, I did something about it.”

With Andy Ruffell, a TV producer and public relations man who became her Mobos co-founder, King stepped up the search for investors. Unable to find a financial backer and by now working in corporate hospitality, at the age of 27 she took on some of the risk herself by remortgaging her house, then persuaded her old employers, Carlton TV, to televise the event.

Organised in just six weeks and held at the Connaught Rooms in London, the Mobos were an instant hit, allowing King to widen her horizons with glitzier presentations and an increasingly impressive roster of artists invited to perform at the event. She also took the annual awards to venues outside London, including in Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Coventry.

While she had to arrange another remortgage in 2002 after the loss of some corporate income, and the event was absent from the calendar in 2018 and 2019, the Mobos brought in substantial backing from big-name sponsors, including Mastercard, HSBC, Sony and Malibu. Though not without their detractors – some criticised them for being too commercial and for featuring artists, such as Ed Sheeran, with no obvious connection to Black music – their success allowed King and her team to create add-ons to the main event that benefited grass-roots music.

Among the spin-off initiatives were Unsung, an artist development programme, the Mobo Trust, a charity that provides training and educational opportunities for young people, and the House of Mobo, a music venue and bar in south London. With Ruffell she also co-founded DanceStar, a global dance and electronic music awards show first held in London in 2000 that later expanded across the world.

Though resourceful and gutsy, King never fulfilled the stereotype of the thrusting entrepreneur, and was known for her warm, humble approach; something that put her in demand as a mentor and for public speaking at community, educational and corporate events. She also had advisory roles on various bodies, including the Creative Industries Council and the UK Music Diversity Taskforce.

She was made MBE in 1999, advanced to CBE in 2018. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2024, but was able to attend the 30th anniversary Mobo awards in March this year.

She is survived by her son, Jem.

• Kanya King, music promoter, born 12 February 1969; died 3 June 2026