In short
Interview with Kanya King, founder/CEO of MOBO (Music of Black Origin), about building the MOBO Awards and MOBO’s broader mission to champion diverse creative talent; includes her early life, entrepreneurship, and MOBO’s growth to a 3-year ITV deal.
Guest backgrounds
Kanya King CBE/MBE, raised in North West London (Queen’s Park), youngest of nine; started earning at age 8 collecting returnable bottles; left school at 15, became a parent at 16; later founded MOBO, which began with a TV broadcast in 1996/1997 and grew globally.
Key claims
She remortgaged her house to fund the first broadcast after being told there was no audience/funding; the first show was put on in six weeks; MOBO helps artists from challenging backgrounds build sustainable careers via artist development, mentoring, contacts, and monetization.
Notable examples
Tony Blair attended the first ceremony; Lionel Richie lifetime achievement; Amy Winehouse performed before her debut; Endzubs won Best Newcomer; MOBO nominees mentioned include Jason Ribello, Zara McFarlane, and Andreas Varady.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOChicago's Vibrant Conversation
0:00 to 0:45
Explore the lively communication culture of Chicago.
“We debate about food, deep dish, tavern style, who's got the best beef.”
Kanya King's Early Entrepreneurial Spirit
2:16 to 3:22
Discover Kanya's childhood experiences that shaped her entrepreneurial spirit.
“As we reach a place, go home, I'll find our sanctuary.”
Overcoming Challenges and Responsibilities
3:22 to 7:00
Kanya discusses her early responsibilities and motivations as a young mother.
“Now you're a rare species in a way you're a very successful female entrepreneur I've interviewed lots of them but there aren't as many as everyone wants there to be.”
The Birth of the MOBO Awards Idea
7:00 to 11:16
Learn how Kanya's early experiences led to the creation of the MOBO Awards.
“This is You Touch My Brain from Al Jarreau featuring Dr.”
Funding the Dream: MOBO's Launch
12:54 to 14:03
Kanya shares the story behind funding the first MOBO Awards ceremony.
“She's the founder and she's the CEO of the Mobo organisation.”
The Birth of the MOBO Awards
14:03 to 16:56
Learn about the challenges and successes in founding the MOBO Awards.
“I was going to find the funding for this, I thought, you know what?”
From Vision to Reality: Supporting Talent
16:56 to 21:32
Discover how Kanya King supports artists and nurtures talent within the industry.
“written of course for those of you in the know by django reinhardt Thank you.”
Expanding the MOBO Brand
21:32 to 24:55
Explore the future plans for MOBO and its impact on the creative fields.
“Kanye King, for the next few minutes only, Precious Minutes L2, is my business shaper.”
Curtis Mayfield's Inspiration
24:55 to 25:41
Hear Kanya King's personal connection to her song choice and its meaning.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Elliot Moss:Chicago talks a lot. Hold on, let me step over here. People are talking too much. We debate about food, deep dish, tavern style, who's got the best beef. We yell across rooms, across blocks, across generations. Yes, nice earrings, Grammy. And now we're doing it on our phones, too. Video calls from the L train, group chats that never shut up. Neighbors texting you the score before your TV catches up. Come on! Get a load of this guy. Catch up. On a dog. Yeah, we've got thoughts. Too loud? In Chicago, you're gonna hear it. Because nothing here gets built without conversation. Nothing moves without connection.
0:37Elliot Moss:So if you think you know AT &T, it might be time to rethink that. Because their network has improved, like, a lot. So Chicago can keep speaking its mind with AT &T Wireless and AT &T Fiber. Chicago won't stop talking. Our improved network backs it up. AT &T. Connecting changes everything. AT &T Fiber. Limited availability in select areas.
1:12jazz shapers on jazz fm listen in color in partnership with mishkondorea it's business
1:21Elliot Moss:but it's personal
1:42Elliot Moss:that was respect from aretha franklin a lovely way to start the program here it's jazz shapers of course on jazz fm with me elliot moss the place where you can hear the very best of the people shaping the world of jazz soul and blues alongside their equivalents in the world of business a business shaper my business shaper today i'm honored to say is kanya king mbe the founder and chief executive of the mobbo organization which of course is incredibly well known for the awards running since 1997 you're going to be hearing lots from her very shortly and in addition to hearing from her you'll also be hearing from our program partners at mishkondorea some words of advice for your business and on top of all of that some brilliant music from the shapers of jazz soul and blues including some of the nominees for this year's mobo awards in the best jazz act category here's one of them it's jason ribello on jazz fm
2:41Elliot Moss:walk with me let me guide you on your journey to eternity Let me lead you by the hand, fulfill your destiny. As we reach a place, go home, I'll find our sanctuary. On the road that leads to nowhere. That was Jason Ribello and Lighten Up The Load featuring Zan Black, a nominee for the MOBO Awards coming up very shortly on ITV, actually. Kenya King is my business shaper today. She is the founder and also the chief exec of MOBO, the MOBO organisation, which as I said is very famous for mobile awards but lots more also and we'll talk about that very shortly. Kanya thank you so much for joining me.
3:24Kanya King:Thank you for inviting me Elliot.
3:25Elliot Moss:Now you're a rare species in a way you're a very successful female entrepreneur I've interviewed lots of them but there aren't as many as everyone wants there to be. You started young I believe if I'm right that you were selling bottles when you were a kid. Is this true before we move on to other things that you did amazing things?
3:46Kanya King:Oh my gosh, I'm laughing about this. I mean, you know, I ended up doing that at about the age of eight or something like that. I grew up in North West London in Queen's Park. And when you come from a large family, I was the youngest girl of nine children. So I couldn't wait to kind of escape to go to my local park, which was Queen's Park. And so I used to spend a lot of my time sort of collecting bottles, which you could return to the local cafe and they gave you something like 5p and I soon realized that all I needed to do was there was no investment of money it was just my time and I could generate a nice income so what better than spending you know your whole day in a fantastic park tranquility and yet you know generating
4:32Elliot Moss:revenue but interestingly I mean aged eight and I have an eight-year-old son there are many many different types of eight-year-olds some are pretty entrepreneurial some are just not what do you think I mean obviously money I imagine money wasn't flush if it depends you know you'll tell me more about that but beyond the money not being flushed bit what made you kind of have that do you think have that get up and go even at that very young age?
4:55Kanya King:I grew up in a very crowded council flat so you know many of us children siblings and I soon realized that I needed to kind of help contribute I guess to the household finances from an early age and so you know and of course I also wanted to dress rather trendy for school even at eight you were aware it's amazing well my mother used to um take me to a jumble sale the local jumble sale and buy clothes for me and of course now they call it vintage clothing but at the time it was seen somewhat differently then and so I wanted to buy my own clothes and and be you know go to school and all these kind of fashionable outfits so I had to find the money yeah exactly I had to find the money and it sounds
5:42Elliot Moss:like um that there were many other little businesses before the big business which came a fair a fair amount of time later that sense of responsibility you obviously felt it quite young to contribute to the family um you're from Ghanaian and Irish stock yes um was that work ethic instilled
5:58Kanya King:in you from a very young age I think it definitely was because you know my parents came here to this country roughly at the age of 18 both of them and it was a time they came here at a time when there was notices on windows that said no irish no blacks no dogs so it's a very difficult time discrimination was rife and you know my parents kind of struggled and my mother very much felt isolated from her family because you know parents were in ireland and and when she met you know a man of colour she very much was ostracized it was very much you know you've made your bed you sleep on it so it was a very isolating experience for her so she didn't have the support of her family so but she spent you know obviously spent a lot of time you know trying to bring up her kids but also at the same time trying to find a living and that was very difficult for her stay with me doing
6:54Elliot Moss:much more from my business shaper kanya king the founder and chief exec of the mobbo organization Time for some more music. This is You Touch My Brain from Al Jarreau featuring Dr. John.
7:32Kanya King:Every time I hear you Call my name
7:36Elliot Moss:That was You Touch My Brain from the brilliant Al Juro featuring Dr. John. Kenya King is my business shaper today and she is, as I said earlier, the founder and chief exec of the MOBA organisation and the MOBA Awards, celebrating fantastic music from all sorts of places now, has been going for almost 20 years and is going to be back on the screens of British television from next week. kanya um you were talking about your childhood and how you know in a way with nine kids a lot of stuff going on in the house you had to pull your weight you had to find a way of helping as you said your mum and and the situation at hand i believe you also wanted to be that even in those young years you wanted to be an actress you had your visions of doing all these things you still you i i think you left school at 16 um and you managed to fit in university for a bit but like many many successful entrepreneurs it didn't quite work out for you did it in that world
8:28Kanya King:no i mean actually i left school at 15 to be honest yeah and i became a parent at 16 so i had huge amounts of responsibility and i very much did not want to be a negative stereotype of a single mother living off benefits so in a way that motivated me to make something of my life and And I soon realised that, you know, I had lots of dreams like many other young people, but it would be discipline and controls that would turn that into reality.
9:00Elliot Moss:You managed to get your first mortgage at 17. Yes, I did. How did you do that? You wouldn't be able to do that now.
9:04Kanya King:No, my gosh, how things have changed. I mean, in a way, properties was my first real business because, you know, having shared a room with many other siblings in a kind of crowded council flat, I needed to get on the housing ladder very fast.
9:18Elliot Moss:How did you do that? How did you get the money together?
9:20Kanya King:Well, I had multiple jobs, really. So I'd get up very early. I, you know, had used to do promotional work and I eventually had my own promotional agency because that work fitted in with my lifestyle. You know, I could get up at all sorts of early hours in the morning and I could, whether it was doing marketing research or work at the weekend, it kind of fitted in with what I needed to do, really.
9:43Elliot Moss:And you managed that even having a young child as well?
9:45Kanya King:I did manage it. I mean, I look back and I realise, wow, you know, how difficult it was. But actually, I needed to have my own place. You know, I needed to have my own space. And it was, I look back and I realised it was the best thing I could ever have done. But at the time, my mother tried to persuade me not to do it because she thought it'd be a huge risk. And my mother had this huge ambition for me to be a teacher and have a proper, safe, secure job. That was her ideal for me. But I had other ideas.
10:16Elliot Moss:And the first, I guess, the biggest other idea was to create the thing called MOBO. Tell me a little bit and we'll talk much more after the traffic and travel, which is coming up shortly. Tell me about where that idea came from.
10:31Kanya King:well I at a young age I was organizing lots of geeks and showcases for my friends because I had a lot of talented musicians as friends but they always looked beyond these shores they always looked to somewhere like America where they might get recognition and it was at a time I guess where the musical landscape was changing and there was an audience out there that wasn't being catered for and so that's why I guess I founded the MOBA Awards because I wanted to inspire, educate and motivate young people via the MOBA Awards to achieve their full potential.
11:07Elliot Moss:And you're going to hear much more about how the first show got put on within six weeks of actually getting the go-ahead. Latest travel as I promise in a couple of minutes and before that some words of wisdom for your burgeoning business from our programme partners at Mishkondorea. Hello my name is James Libsyn and I'm a partner at Mishkondorea. my background is i look after people when they have disputes with other people a litigation lawyer and that experience obviously means that i see people at really difficult times during their business lives and sometimes during their family and personal lives so what i'd like to talk about a little today is trying to avoid that and one way of avoiding the contentiousness of disputes even once they've arisen, is alternative dispute resolution, and in particular, mediation.
11:56Elliot Moss:Mediation is an alternative to taking your disputes through the courts, where a skilled mediator is appointed and the mediator tries to find common ground in very difficult circumstances between two warring parties. It is a development that's happened over the last 20 years or so, and has become a very sophisticated tool to avoid disputes. It's not always appropriate, and the timing is very critical. The mood of the parties has to be right for it to work. But even in the most difficult, intractable disputes, where both sides think there is no prospect whatsoever of there being a solution, mediation often delivers results that litigation can't.
12:39Elliot Moss:And it's worth bearing in mind, it's worth taking advice in relation to, and it's worth exploring before disputes become terribly bitter, terribly expensive and terribly time-consuming. Jazz Shapers on Jazz FM. In partnership with Mishkondorea. It's business, but it's personal. You're listening to Jazz Shapers with me, Elliot Moss, every Saturday morning, 9am sharp, here on Jazz FM and on British Airways, if you happen to be flying, ft.com, cityam.com and all sorts of other places, I'm sure, in due course. Kanye King is my business shaper today. She's the founder and she's the CEO of the Mobo organisation.
13:19Elliot Moss:And you just started telling me about where that great idea came from, about getting people exposed to music. There was an audience there. There was no one doing it. You couldn't get any money to do this.
13:31Kanya King:I certainly could not get any money. I mean, I had this great dream for the business, you know, that I had the dream for the business is that I would create this international platform in the form of an awards ceremony and provide, you know, diversity in the music industry by celebrating genres such as hip-hop, reggae, gospel, you know, jazz, etc. But, you know, I was told that there wasn't an audience out there that would believe in it and would never work. So after talking to many, many organisations and realising, you know, that there was no way I was going to find the funding for this, I thought, you know what?
14:08Kanya King:if you believe in this so much you need to put your money where your mouth is and I didn't tell my mother at the time you know and I just remortgaged my house and I put all the funds in to pay for the broadcast of the ceremony and 1997 first one Tony Blair in the audience
14:23Elliot Moss:actually it was 1996 our very first ceremony and 1996 the first one not 97 but Tony Blair's in the audience still and Lionel Richie is your is your lifetime achievement award winner that's right I
14:37Kanya King:I mean, when we had been given the go-ahead by Colton Television, they told us we've got good news and bad news for you. The good news is we're going to give you this TV slot, but the bad news is we need you to put the show on in six weeks' time and we've got little funding. And that sounded very familiar. But you know when you get opportunities like this? You had to grab it. Exactly. You grasp it with both hands. And I thought, you know, we've got to grab this opportunity. I just wasn't sure how we were going to find the funds to put it on. But you know what? We had determination and we were very driven and I managed to enlist some friends together.
15:13Kanya King:And I moved from my bedroom where I'd been working and found offices in order to pull everything together.
15:20Elliot Moss:And that first show was a huge success.
15:22Kanya King:The first show was a huge success because we did contact Tony Blair was leader of the opposition at the time. We'd had 17 years of a conservative government and he was seen as the kind of this big hope really. Change agent. Exactly. That was going to kind of change the landscape. And there's a lot of optimism around it. And we contacted his office. And of course, when you contact him, like, you know, six weeks before a show, they said, look, his schedule has been set, you know, months and months in advance. There's no way it's going to happen. but I remember saying look is it okay if we keep in touch with you just in a very very small chance that circumstances might change and you might be available to attend and they were like fine about it and there's a fine line between persistence and being a pain and how did you manage to be persistent but not a pain well we said you know any good news that we had we then told them about it and so they didn't mind hearing all this kind of exciting news and then I remember I think it was about two days before our show they said you know what don't get your hopes up high but but and of course we then went into overdrive you know and 18 years later i think there's around
16:28Elliot Moss:400 million viewers 200 countries and it all started because tony came it's all about tony
16:33Kanya King:baird always is fantastic sherry blair came together and they launched our very first but not only them i mean we had you know lennox lewis supported it um you know we had all the the good and the great really turned up in their droves and it was seen as a huge success
16:48Elliot Moss:brilliant stuff stay with me for much more from can you king my business shaper time for some more music from indeed this year's mobo nominees this one's from andreas varady and it's swing 42 written of course for those of you in the know by django reinhardt
17:14Thank you.
Read the full transcript
17:48Elliot Moss:That was Andreas Varady with Swing 42, one of Quincy Jones' prodigies. My business shaper today is Kanye King, and we've been talking about how six weeks was easy, how getting the future Prime Minister to the first event, no problem. 400 million viewers, as I said, 200 countries later. In the last 18 years, and you said there's a fine line, Elliot, between persistence and being a pain, how have you retained the ability to stay on the right side of that line because you are now you're an MBE you're a poster girl for female entrepreneurs all sorts of fantastic things have happened what have you hung on to that's kept you grounded and focused and successful I guess you know what resonates with me so well is the the idea that we can support champion
18:33Kanya King:and celebrate other creative talent. What I realise is there's a certain individual that we tend to kind of work with and support and they are individuals that tend to come from a challenging background but have that kind of determination and big dreams, that kind of audaciousness about them. And that very much, you know, I have a kind of affinity with that individual and that's the type of person that we try to help and support throughout our kind of the MOBO journey.
19:02Elliot Moss:are there times though when you've seen artists along the way where they're clearly they've got the attitude but they haven't got the talent or they've got the talent but they haven't got the attitude i mean what do you do because i imagine you're i know your next iteration of the mobo business will be around mentoring and things i want to talk about that before we finish but how have you made ensured that you've played a kind of coaching role in that i imagine you have
19:23Kanya King:yeah there's a lot of artists that we've worked with before they've become global superstars where we've given them their first break or their first platform. Give me a couple. Well, for example, you know, Endzubs, they ended up doing a kind of a music showcase for us. And then they went on to win Best Newcomer. And they've gone on record as saying that they wouldn't be around today, even as individuals, if it wasn't for the mobile platform. But also Amy Winehouse, Amy Winehouse performed at our nomination launch. And she had this incredible, big, bold voice. And this was before her debut album.
20:00Kanya King:And everybody was just mesmerised. You know, these type of events, you have people talking and networking and very noisy. But no one said a word. Everybody just listened because, you know, she was just an incredible talent.
20:12Elliot Moss:And on the other side of it, the nuts and bolts of the operation and the business and the commercial stuff, you're quoted as saying, I didn't know anything. I mean, I don't do what I did. How have you become the businesswoman that you are now?
20:22Kanya King:You know, you're absolutely right. you don't know what you don't know and I do remember how naive I was when starting out um I you know I've done everything you shouldn't do when starting out in the business world you know I didn't have any mentors I went into the music industry and I had no experience of it um I didn't have any lawyers or legal people you know amongst my circle of friends that I could turn to whenever I needed that much needed advice and you know I I you know I just basically did everything you shouldn't do when starting out. So I soon realised that it was important for me to build this kind of mastermind network around me.
21:01Kanya King:Because, you know, when you're starting your own business, your head is down and you're taking on multiple roles, whether that's kind of sales and marketing or whether that's, you know, finding office space, you're doing it all yourself. But it makes a very, you know, my mother said to me, where the right advisors are many, plan succeed and so it was important for me to have that team around me that whenever I had kind of challenges I could pick up the phone and speak to them and they would give me their great advice
21:28Elliot Moss:and wisdom and that's why 18 years later you're still going strong final chat coming up with Kenya today plus we're going to play a track from MOBO nominee Zara McFarlane that's after the latest traffic and travel here on Jazz FM Jazz Shapers on Jazz FM in partnership with Mishkondorea it's business but it's personal
22:01Elliot Moss:The time has come and I am on my own
22:06Kanya King:I have direction though I know not where to go I need a sense of my reality so I can be me
22:18Elliot Moss:That was Move from Zara McFarlane, another nominee for the Mobo Awards, which are taking place next week on ITV. Another three-year deal, apparently. Kanye King, for the next few minutes only, Precious Minutes L2, is my business shaper. We've been talking about the past, we've been talking about where you've come to now. You've got this fantastic three-year deal with ITV. You had six weeks to start with. Now you've got the world is not quite at your feet because you wouldn't feel like that, I'm sure. but you've got big ideas for where MOBO goes next. Tell me a little bit about how you're going to take it on from the awards and the other things that you do.
22:51Kanya King:Yeah, most people know us for our flagship show, of course, the MOBO Awards, but there's so many other things we do. I mean, we produce multi-artist shows and events, but we also kind of produce tours. At the same time, you know, we work with many brands that kind of have the same ethos and values as us. And so throughout the year, you know, we have an artist development program and it's about helping and champion artists so they can have a sustainable career in the music industry so we pull we put them with vital contacts that you need in the music industry in order to take help take you to that next level and we'll put together like a bespoke package for them so we provide you know whether it's producers or recording studio time or we try and mentor them so that they know how to kind of make money and monetize you know obviously the music they create so there's a number of things we do but we've also taken a huge step in terms of going into other areas in creative fields so that we can kind of support talent wherever they might come from but also help them to achieve success in their chosen
24:00Elliot Moss:creative field do you think the reason why so many people seek you out for advice and want you to appear on television programs and radio programs like this one is it because you've managed to combine a nurturing belief in talent with a commercial thing that works do you think that's
24:14Kanya King:what it is or is it something else yeah i think it's because that we've been around a long time we are an independent organization that punches above our weight um we have a very high profile brand presence and that's in a way allowed us to you know extend our brand into many other areas so you know we we're also going to be um next year we're going to be having products music products that come out and so you know we've got you know we have big dreams and you know we have started to work with other organizations i mean we've partnered with htc um the fantastic innovative handset manufacturer and we we're doing a number of wonderful things with them just before i let
24:56Elliot Moss:you go um and good luck i think it goes really well next week i'm sure it will what's your song
25:00Kanya King:choice today and why have you chosen it my song choice is curtis mayfield move on up because it really resonates with me personally but also i think it kind of demonstrate what mobo is all about um you know the lyrics are very much it's about keeping an eye on the prize no matter what and really kind of overcoming many kind of obstacles and challenges fantastic this is
25:23Elliot Moss:your song choice it's curtis mayfield move on up and thank you very much for being my business shaper today thank you
25:41Kanya King:Hush now, child, and don't cry. Your folks might understand you by and by.
25:54Elliot Moss:Just move on up. toward your destination that was curtis mayfid with move on up the song choice of my business shaper today kanya king someone who learnt the notion of responsibility at a very very young age someone who had a vision for what they wanted to achieve and someone who has been continually persistent in the pursuit of achieving that vision and has done so fantastically brilliant stuff join me again same time same place that's 9 a.m next saturday here on jazz fm for another edition of Jazz Shapers. In the meantime, though, stay with us, because coming up next, it's Nigel Williams. Jazz Shapers on Jazz FM, in partnership with Mishkondorea.
26:36Elliot Moss:It's business, but it's personal.
From the publisher
As the music world pays tribute to Kanya King following her death at the age of 57, this is another chance to hear the founder and "visionary" of the Mobo Awards taking with Elliot Moss on Jazz Shapers with Mishcon de Reya in 2014.