Launched in 1996, the Mobos became globally renowned for their recognition of black talent – platforming upcoming stars and pushing to break industry boundaries.
King defied expectations as a teenage mother who dropped out of school to gatecrash the predominantly white male music industry.
She studied English literature at London’s Goldsmiths College and later, while working as a TV researcher, spotted a gap in the market for a black-focused awards show.
But success did not come easily.
“I remember being told, ‘You’ve got a chip on your shoulder, why are you talking about race all the time?'” she told Music Week in 2021, external.
By 1999, King had been awarded an MBE for services to music as the Mobos grew from scrappy underdog to music industry fixture, holding its own against the long-established Brit Awards.
Its musical spectrum remains uniquely broad – giving early support to UK garage at the turn of the millennium, alongside R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, Afrobeat and broader African music, and championing grime before its mainstream explosion.
