MOBO Founder and CEO Kanya King CBE was honored with the Music Week Strat Award Tuesday night at a shindig that saw the great and the good of the British music industry gather together, many for the first time since lockdown hit.

King was recognized for building MOBO into a globally respected brand and transforming the landscape for black artists, taking talent from the margins of British popular culture into the mainstream across a career that spans nearly 25 years.

Max Lousada, Jason Iley and David Joseph were amongst those who paid tribute to King, alongside artists Skin, Ray BLK, Rapman and Krept & Konan as well as Darcus Beese and Jonathan Shalit.

“I just want to say your dream came true, you had the idea, you shifted culture and you changed the lives of so many people,” Joseph said.

Lousada praised King for her “passion, execution and championing of British black music.” “Your energy, verve and determination has always been outstanding and this is a right and overdue accolade.”

Iley called King a “trailblazer.” “You’ve never taken ‘no’ for an answer, you’ve always pushed the boundaries and you’ve always reached for the stars.”

King, who was presented with the award by Craig David, dedicated it to “all those who have gone before me and whose shoulders I stand on and to the younger generation who will be making their own mark.”

The MOBO Organization has recently been bolstered with the launch of MOBOLISE—a digital platform to connect black talent with career opportunities within forward-thinking organizations. It also owns the MOBO Awards, the MOBO Help Musicians Fund, which offers financial and business support to emerging talent, and the MOBO UnSung competition that provides opportunities to unsigned artists.

Other winners at the Music Week Awards, which took place at Battersea Evolution in London, included Polydor Records in the Record Company category, Warner Records for A&R, UMPG for Publisher and TaP Music was crowned Manager of the Year.