Published
Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 15:00
- Nia Archives, who is among the nominees, criticised the awards' lack of dance music representation earlier this year.
The MOBO Awards is introducing a Best Electronic/Dance Act category for the first time in 2022.
The nominees for the new award, which is sponsored by Mixmag, are Anz, Eliza Rose, FKA twigs, Jax Jones, Nia Archives and SHERELLE. The MOBOs had previously been criticised for its lack of dance music representation. In April, Nia Archives penned an open letter, saying it had been "massively regressive for the Black community."
She wrote: "How can we expect young Black people to see themselves in the music if our own organisations and award ceremonies won't even celebrate the diverse range of talent that boldly exists in this country?"
Jaguar and Heléna Star expressed similar concerns in a Mixmag article in 2020, saying the decision to "ignore massive parts of global history" has contributed to the erasure of dance music's Black heritage.
Posting on Instagram earlier today, November 11th, the Black Electronic Music Association (BEMA) announced it has been working tirelessly to reinstate a dance music award at the MOBOs. BEMA has also curated a voting committee for the new category.
The 25th anniversary of the MOBO Awards will take place at London's Wembley Arena and will be livestreamed on YouTube. Highlights will subsequently be aired on BBC One.
Check out the full post from BEMA.