Drake, Beyonce and Stormzy lead the nominations for the Urban Music Awards 2023. The prestigious event celebrating the popular genre returns on February 28, 2023 at the Porchester Hall in London.
The above artists are all in contention for the coveted Best Album prize for Her Loss (with 21 Savage), Renaissance and This Is What I Mean respectively.
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Little Simz’ No Thank You, Knucks’ Alpha Place, Kojey Radical’s Reason to Smile, Chris Brown’s Breezy, DJ Khaled’s God Did, Cleo Sol’s Mother, and Dave’s We’re All Alone in This Together are also among those in contention for the award.
Artist of the Year (USA) will see Chris Brown, Beyonce, Lizzo, Drake, DJ Khaled, Cardi B, Coi Leray, GloRilla, Latto, 21 Savage, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, and Jack Harlow go head-to-head.
While in the UK, Central Cee, Mahalia, Knucks, Stormzy, Ms. Banks, A1 x J1, Cleo Sol and Jnr Choi are shortlisted.
The ceremony will air on VooVix TV, which has also announced it’s re-launching its flagship reality TV show, Britain’s Next Urban Superstar. Auditions take place in London on February 13, and the finalists will be announced at the UMA’s on February 28.
Founder and President of the UMA’s, Jordan Kensington, commented: “The UMA’s at it’s core has always been about mentoring, nurturing and assisting the next generation of artists as well as celebrating the present class of amazing breakthrough talent. 2023 marks 19 years of tenacity, hard work and perseverance. To see the aftermath of urban music becoming the new popular genre worldwide is a huge dream we had 19 years ago. We are both excited and pleased that hard work and consistency paid off.”
Voting for the 19th annual Urban Music Awards is now live until February 20 via the event’s official website, where a full list of the nominations can be found. Tune in on February 28 to catch all the action live on VooVix TV or book your tickets via Eventbrite.
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