Source: Africa Publicity
Kanya King, the visionary founder of the MOBO Awards who championed Black British music for decades, has died at 57 from colon cancer.
Her death was announced by the Mobo Organization in a statement.
According to the statement, Kanya, an entrepreneur and tireless champion of Black British music died on Wednesday “after a courageous and characteristically determined battle” with her illness.
The statement added that “The music world has lost one of its most fearless champions.”
It says “What Kanya created was never simply an awards ceremony. It was an act of cultural justice. Mobo did not just celebrate Black music; it legitimised it, amplified it, and demonstrated its commercial and creative power to a world that had too often chosen not to see it.”
Tributes pour in
Tributes have been pouring in for Kanya. Idris Elba in his tribute to Kanya wrote “You inspired me. Your dedication is unmatched.”
Born to a Ghanaian father and an Irish mother in Kilburn, north London, Kanya was working as a TV researcher when she set about filling a gap in the marketplace: an awards ceremony that would celebrate the Black British musicians who were sometimes overlooked by other industry events.
