MOBO Awards 2013 - 18 Years Old

The past few years I found myself slightly... unsatisfied...with the nominations and winners of some of the categories in the MOBO awards - that being said, it's hard to complain when it is one of the biggest supporters fighting in the "urban" corner of the music scene. This year however, restored some faith into me I must say. I shall explain how and why in my MOBOs 18th birthday analysis which I know you didn't ask for but you might as well just read because you're here now...

Now, I'm abusing the powers of juxtaposition to make sure this post is positive, so I'll get my negative out of the way. Note that I said "negative". Singular. Which is progress from last years negatives.

The night kicked off with Tinie Tempah. He is a great performer, he did his thing and yeah... Quite frankly though, I thought that was all the stage time he really should have got. It sounds harsh, I know. I can't argue that he has done so much for the scene, I've hailed him on this very blog before, but when he returned to the stage to accept the award for Best Hip Hop/Grime Act I can't say I was pleased. I like Tinie. He's humble despite his success. Trampoline was a tune (even if it is slightly Americanised). However, winning the award over nominees such as Akala and Wretch 32 who fit the category much more appropriately made me feel like the MOBOs missed the spot once again. I know the vote is public, but he shouldn't have really been a nominee. You can hardly class Tinie's music as Hip Hop or Grime anymore - that's not a bad thing at all...he's got to do what he has got to do and he is still very much supporting the scene he came from. My problem here lies more in the hands of the MOBOs who seem to have slipped him in as a nominee not based on the music he is supplying but the hype he's surrounded by. With the power the MOBOs have, they shouldn't be filling the nominations with artists that will get the show the most views but supporting the artists who may be underground yet are simultaneously worthy contenders of the category. 

Anyway lets be happy now...

WILEEEEEEEEEES FINALLY GOT A MOBO! Joy and jubilation! For someone who created one of the most prominent genres in the UK urban music scene it's shocking that this is his FIRST ever MOBO award. It's so refreshing - and I mean cold glass of water after running a marathon in a heatwave (lol) refreshing - to see his years of graft paying off. Along side his plaques for his number one singles he can now put a nice, shiny MOBO on his mantlepiece. In true Wiley-styley there was no sign of him at awards but lets give credit where it is due...he did leave a video message and I'll give him 10 bonus points for putting Angel aka my babes on my screen to represent and pick up the award for him. Maybe in the near future he'll get the chance to accept his own award for the success of an album full of, dare I say it, Grime tunes? No, this isn't me getting caught up in the excitement of him finally winning a MOBO. Mr Cowie, dedicated to the genre he fathered, is apparently leaving behind the formula to success he's been using since Summer 2012 and is bringing it back to the days we saw in the Lights On video. It's not a crazy Wiley-styley stunt. Now that he's in a stronger position than ever and has a better experience of the industry, it's an educated move to become successful and in his eyes this means making music he wants to make. Who knows? It could be possible. Maybe he will bring real Eski to the charts. Either way....congratulations and a big fat GWAAN WILEY!

Krept and Konan winning Best Newcomer was not only responsible for another burst of joy but was also responsible for best reaction of the night, coming from Krept's evidently proud Dad. It makes me proud to see such humble and nice guys (I've met them so I can actually back these claims up) tearing the scene up. They're so unstoppable right now its unbelievable to think this is all being achieved independently. They held a top 20 position in the Official Album Charts for A MIXTAPE and then win Best Newcomer at the MOBOs with no backing of a major label. They had tough competition from fellow nominees (who were ALL worthy so well done MOBOs) Jacob Banks, Shakka, Daley and Etta Bond but the award belonged to Krept and Kones and their victorious past few months. It feels like their recent success is the brewing before the storm rather than the climax of it. That makes me really really excited because they're adding strength and direction to the UK rap scene, which seems like it's lagging at times. They have a real potential to impact.

Other stars of the show include Naughty Boy who won two awards (the second win was accompanied by a wonderfully entertaining drunken speech) with Sam Smith (who looked adorably shy on that stage...and much taller than I had expected) for Best Song and Best Video with their, not even catchy but, contagious song La La La La (dun know the Indian musical flavours seasoning that track!). Also getting the double was Laura Mvula who's soul cleansing sound  helped her cop Best Female and Best R&B and Soul Act. 

After playing a flashback of past MOBO performances - such as LL Cool J, Jigga, Destiny's Child and Mary J Blige - the performers this year had their parade slightly rained on. Nevertheless, the stage held the likes of Iggy Azalea whose cake is way out of Mr Kipling's leauge, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ODG and Rudimental with a capital MENTAL. Now, if we are giving out prizes for the performance of the night then it goes to none other than So Solid Crew who closed the show with the same song they opened the show with 12 years ago: 21 SECONDS T-T-T 21 SECONDS T-T-T. They created a legacy so strong they were able to come back years later and still kill the stage using just their history and energy. It makes me wish I went to that comeback show. Maybe then I could have blagged my way backstage and asked Lisa Mafia how she still looks fiyaaaaaaaaaaa.

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55th Grammy Awards

One day, we in the UK need an award show to match Grammys. The awards and and performances are on a whole other level but the Grammys are actually ABOUT music and considers all music that is making a mark, which is something I don't think I can say for our award shows :(

One award I love that the Grammy's do is Song Of The Year (which FUN won for We Are Young). It's different to Record of The Year because Song of the Year is awarded rightly so to the composer/writers of the song rather than just the performer - something the BRITS need to take note of. Last year I remember when One Direction won a Brit Award for something along the lines of Best Song - bearing in mind they didn't have any input into the creation of it other than their vocals. Fair enough they made an impact on music, but in the UK I think we definitely need to pay a lot more recognition to the real artists we have in the UK - as in the ones that have more involvement in the music they actually put out.

Mumford and Son's won Album of the Year. Now I'm not even going attempt to try and wing a paragraph about this album because I haven't heard it but now I'm going to have to give it a listen ASAP. I've not really paid THAT much attention to them in the past but from their track's I have heard, I find it's easy listening and what I like most about their sound is; it is cultured. The four-piece need a massive congratulations without question. Being an English Act winning the top prize at America's biggest music award ceremony is definitely a power move.

Rap Album Of The Year went to Drake with 'Take Care'. If I'm real, I don't know if I'm happy about this or not. I think Drake has recently been overly hyped. Personally, there are albums that haven't even been nominated such as 'Cruel Summer' that, in my eyes/ears, were much better. Drake did have a some real good tracks on there, and with his carefully crafted lyricism he is definitely one of the best rap artists right now, but if I had to award best Rap Album, Drake wouldn't be the first name to pop into mind. Nevertheless let's all breath a sigh of relief 2 Chainz didn't win. I think the nominations for this award next year definitely need to be more carefully picked though - without a doubt Mr Kendrick Lamar is going to be a top contender for this.

 Contrastingly for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, no one can really deny Jigga and Yeezy this award - N*ggas In Paris was this year's anthem. I'll forever regret that I never got to witness this live at the Watch The Throne Tour or Hackney Weekend. Cry. The Watch The Throne album got them both another award, Best Rap/Sung Collab, along with Frank Ocean for No Church In The Wild. When you compare the power of every element of this song compared to that of fellow nominee Flo Rida with Wild Ones - they had no competition (once again).

Miguel won Best R&B Song for the ultimate slow jam: 'Adorn' - *Lethal Bizzle Voice* OBVIOUSLY. I don't think there are words to describe my love for Miguel, and in particular this one song. This song helped me come to the realisation that being serenaded by Miguel is something I must do before I die - I'm not even joking. Miguel's vocals are untouchable in R&B land right now and he has the sweetest way with words. Even Usher's latest album didn't have anything on Kaleidoscope Dream.


Adele won Best Solo Performance of the Year. Some of the nominees more than know to how to put on a show *cough* Rihanna *cough*, but Adele can make a whole room silent with nothing but her voice. But forget that, I rated Adele more last night for shouting at Breezy for being the only one not clapping for Frank when he won Best Urban Contemporary Album. She's still got that Tottenham feist bwooooooooy!
Frank's win was so well deserved. He has brought such a simple and beautiful sound to the scene. It's an easy listening album but when you delve deeper into it and witness all the different levels to it and the story it tells, it becomes something much more than just sounds. Frank crafted a masterpiece but he also created the perfect shower tune in the shape of Thinking 'Bout You - there is nothing better then the feeling of accomplishment when you (almost) hit those high notes - and you cannot front and say you never tried.

In terms of performances, thankfully there was not a repeat of a performance like Nicki Minaj's last year. My favourite performance was definitely Mr Timberlake's come back with his classy, old school, 'Suit and Tie' performance. He went in and brought everything to his performance from Jay-Z to an orchestra when he performed some unheard new material. The best thing about JT is that he hasn't changed one bit (plus he is still hot), but his style still stands out from everything out there right now - timeless is the theme of his whole set.

Anyway, I'm done for now but I'll leave you with my favourite outfit of the night; Rihanna. She looked stunning in this classy (yeah, classy) floating red dress that actually made her look like a princess - proving when she tries and actually covers up, she's still got it yo...

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