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Rapper Nines is the frontrunner for this year’s MOBO Awards with five nominations, while Stormzy and Mahalia are also in the running for several prizes.
Lianne La Havas and Tiana Major9 could also win gongs at the ceremony, which celebrates music of black origin and returns virtually in 2020 after a two-year break.
Nines, 30, from Harlesden, northwest London, topped the charts with his third studio record Crabs In A Bucket earlier in 2020. He is up for awards including best male act, best hip-hop act and album of the year.
In the best male act category, Glastonbury headliner Stormzy and Nines face competition from J Hus, Headie One, AJ Tracey and Young T & Bugsey.
Lianne La Havas, Mahalia and Tiana Major9 are joined by Ms Banks, Darkoo and FKA Twigs in the best female category.
Up for album of the year alongside Nines are J Hus’s Big Conspiracy, Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head, Mahalia’s Love And Compromise and Lianne La Havas’s self-titled third record.
A one-off category acknowledging the ceremony’s fallow years sees Dave’s Psychodrama, Kano’s Hoodies All Summer, Skepta’s Ignorance Is Bliss and Little Simz’s Grey Area up for best album 2017-2019, alongside Nines’ second album Crop Circle and Ella Mai’s self-titled debut.
Also celebrating entertainment outside music, the ceremony has an award for best performance in a TV show/ film, voted for by the public.
Kano, a rapper and actor, is shortlisted for his turn as drug kingpin Sully in Top Boy, alongside Michaela Coel’s performance as Arabella in the critically acclaimed I May Destroy You, and Ncuti Gatwa’s comedic turn as Eric Effiong in Sex Education.
Organisers have promised the ceremony will feature “a strong vein of cultural purpose and social commentary” following the events of 2020, such as the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests around the world.
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MOBO founder Kanya King said: “Recognising the unique role the MOBO Awards plays for so many, and the challenging year we find ourselves in, it is now more important than ever to be there and to continue the rich history of showcasing the very best of black music and culture.”
The ceremony will be presented by TV star Maya Jama, 26, who became the youngest person to host the show when it last took place in 2017, and YouTube creator, music artist and comedian Chunkz.
The virtual MOBOs ceremony will be live-streamed on YouTube from 7pm on 9 December and re-broadcast on BBC One at 10.45pm.
