Olivia Dean and Little Simz are among the leading acts nominated for the 2026 MOBO Awards.

Both artists, as well as rising stars Jim Legxacy and Kwn, score four nominations across the genre-spanning categories, with Dean and Simz also competing in the prestigious album of the year field.

The 2026 ceremony marks 30 years of the MOBOs organisation which was co-founded by Kanya King and Andy Ruffell. The MOBO Awards, held annually, champion Black music and culture across a wide spectrum of genres and disciplines.

The ceremony will take place on March 26 at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, and follows the BRIT Awards in moving to the venue. In recent years, the MOBOs has toured British cities such as Newcastle (2025), Sheffield (2024), Coventry (2021) and Leeds (2019).

British stars Central Cee, Skepta, PinkPantheress and FLO are recognised in three categories each. Cynthia Erivo will feature in the best TV/film performance category for her turn in Wicked, going up against Stephen Graham for his role in the Netflix hit drama Adolescence, among others.

Dean will compete in the album of the year category, as well as best female act, song of the year (“Man I Need”), and best R&B/soul act; these are her first nominations for the MOBO Awards. In the album of the year category, she’ll be up against Central Cee’s Can’t Rush Greatness; Ezra Collective’s Dance, No One’s Watching; FLO’s Access All Areas; Kojey Radical’s Don’t Look Down; and Little Simz’ Lotus. The latter shared the album of the year prize with Knucks in 2022 for her fourth LP Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.

Ten artists will feature in the best artist field with a number of strong names included in the category: DC3; EsDeeKid; FineeseKid; Jim Legxacy; Kwn; namesbliss; Nia Smith; Sekou; Skye Newman; and YT. 

The MOBOs celebrate a wide range of genres, including jazz, electronic, gospel and alternative music. A number of global stars feature in the international act category, including Cardi B, Gunna, Leon Thomas, and Kehlani. 

Tickets for the event are on sale now from the MOBOs’ official website, with performers and special honorees to be announced in due course. See the full list of nominees below.

Best male act

Central Cee

Elmiene

Jim Legxacy

Nemzzz

Odeal

Skepta

Best female act

Flo

Kwn

Little Simz

Olivia Dean

PinkPantheress

Sasha Keable

Album of the year

Central Cee – Can’t Rush Greatness

Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching

Flo – Access All Areas

Kojey Radical – Don’t Look Down

Little Simz – Lotus

Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving

Song of the year

AJ Tracey feat. Jorja Smith – “Crush”

Donae’o feat. Omar, Lemar & House Gospel Choir – “Nights Like This”

Fred Again, Skepta & Plaqueboymax – “Victory Lap”

Jim Legxacy & Dave – “3x”

Kwn – “Do What I Say”

Myles Smith – “Nice To Meet You”

Olivia Dean – “Man I Need”

PinkPantheress – “lllegal”

Raye – “Where Is My Husband!”

Tim Duzit – “Kat Slater”

Best newcomer

DC3

EsDeeKid

Finessekid

Jim Legxacy

Kwn

namesbliss

Nia Smith

Sekou

Skye Newman

YT

Video of the year

Pozer – “Shanghigh Noon” (Directed by Bas Haselager)

FKA Twigs – “Eusexua“ (Directed by Jordan Hemingway)

Jim Legxacy – “’Father“ (Directed by Lauzza)

Little Simz – “Flood“ (Directed by Salomon Lighthelm)

Raye – “Where Is My Husband!“ (Directed by The Reids)

Skepta & Fred Again – “Back 2 Back“ (Directed by Domamanic and Skepta)

Best R&B/soul act

Elmiene

Flo

Kwn

Odeal

Olivia Dean

Sasha Keable

Best alternative music act

Alt Blk Era

Blood Orange

Hak Baker

Michael Kiwanuka

Nova Twins

Rachel Chinouriri

Best grime act

Chip

Jayahadadream

Kasst 8

Ruff Sqwad

Scorcher

Wiley

Best hip hop act

Aitch

Asco

Catch

Central Cee

D-Block Europe

Kojey Radical

Little Simz

Loyle Carner

Wretch 32

Youngs Teflon

Best drill act

36

Booter Bee

Chy Cartier

Esdeekid

K-Trap

Leostaytrill

Nemzzz

Pozer

Twin S

Wohdee

Best international act

Ayra Starr

Cardi B

Clipse

Gunna

Kehlani

Leon Thomas

Mariah The Scientist

Moliy

Tyla

Vybz Kartel

Best media personality

Bemi Orojuogun (Bus Aunty)

DJ AG

In My Opinion

Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe (Melissa’s Wardrobe)

Nadia Jae

Niko Omilana

PK Humble

Remi Burgz

Uche Natori

Winners Talking

Best performance in a TV show/film

Aaron Pierre – Mufasa: The Lion King

Ashley Thomas – Hostage

Ashley Walters – Adolescence

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked

Damson Idris – F1

Dayo Koleosho – Eastenders

Lennie James – Mr Loverman

Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths

Stephen Graham – Adolesence

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

Best African music act

Adekunle Gold (Nigeria)

Ayra Starr (Nigeria)

Davido (Nigeria)

Joshua Baraka (Uganda)

Moliy (Ghana)

Rema (Nigeria)

Shallipopi (Nigeria)

Tiwa Savage (Nigeria)

Tyla (South Africa)

Wizkid (Nigeria)

Best Caribbean music act

Ayetian

Lila Iké

Masicka

Shenseea

Vybz Kartel

Yung Bredda

Best jazz act

Cktrll

Ego Ella May

Ezra Collective

Kokoroko

Nubya Garcia

Yazmin Lacey

Best electronic/dance act

FKA Twigs

Jazzy

Kilimanjaro

Pinkpantheress

Salute

Sherelle

Best gospel act

Annatoria

DC3

Faith Child

Imrhan

Sondae

Still Shadey

Best producer

Inflo

Jae5

Miles Clinton James

P2J

Sammy Soso

Zach Nahome

The late Grateful Dead legend Bob Weir will be remembered in his hometown, San Francisco, this weekend with a special tribute to his life and career.

“Homecoming: Celebrating the life of Bobby Weir” will move through SF this Saturday, Jan. 17 at Civic Center Plaza, starting at 3:45pm ET.

The free public gathering will remember Weir, whose “music, spirit and humanity shaped generation,” reads a statement from organizers. “Together, we will pay tribute in the community and collective heartbeat that he created.”

Weir, the guitarist and jam-band pioneer who co-founded the Grateful Dead and continued their legacy in the 21st century with Furthur, Dead & Company and more, died last week due to underlying lung issues after fighting cancer. He was 78.

Reps say this weekend’s special gathering is not a concert and there will be no live performances, but will instead center on “gratitude, remembrance, and togetherness,” along with special tributes to honor the late artist. 

Also, a procession will travel three blocks down Market Street between 7th and 9th Streets at approximately 3:30pm ET.

“Homecoming: Celebrating the life of Bobby Weir” location: 

Civic Center Plaza *Please enter through Fulton Plaza.

335 McAllister St

San Francisco, CA 

This is not a concert, and there will be no live musical performances. RSVP at the link here.

LONDON, U.K. — Merlin’s board for 2026-27 features some fresh faces, and a return of the executive who established the organization.

The independents’ digital rights agency this week announced five new members to its board, the first formed since the appointment of Charlie Lexton as chief executive officer, succeeding Jeremy Sirota.

Newly elected to the board are Bugwu Aneto-Okeke, Measurable Accurate Digital Solutions (Nigeria); Charles Caldas, Exceleration (Portugal); Manami Ogawa, STARBASE (Japan); Rachel Buswell, Domino (U.K.); and Sascha Lazimbat, Zebralution (Germany).

It’s a welcome return to the Merlin fold for Caldas, the Australian-born and raised executive who served as founding CEO of the association from 2007, until he stepped down from the role in December 2019.

In addition to the elected members, Merlin appoints Dan Waite, Better Noise (U.K.) and Verónica Rojas, Casete (Mexico) as board observers.

Re-elected to the Merlin board and continuing their service are Carlos Mills, Mills Records (Brazil); Chris Maund, Mushroom (Australia); Darius Van Arman, Secretly Group (U.S.); Golda Bitterli, Revelator (Israel); Justin West, Secret City Records (Canada); Louis Posen, Hopeless Records (U.S.); Marie Clausen, Ninja Tune (U.S.); Megan Jasper, Sub Pop (U.S.); Pascal Bittard, IDOL (France); and Tom Deakin, AudioSalad (U.K.).  

Beggars Group and Merlin co-founder Martin Mills will continue to serve as a director of Merlin Network, the organization’s parent entity, alongside Darius Van Arman, who continues as Merlin chairperson, and Lexton, who was promoted to CEO with effect from Jan. 1.

The Merlin board is elected from and by its membership, which represents tens of thousands of independent record labels, distributors, and rightsholders from around the world, and brings together leaders from 12 different countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania.

Merlin claims its membership represents 15% of the global recorded music market, and has negotiated premium deals with Apple, Canva, ElevenLabs, Meta, Spotify, YouTube, and 40 other innovative platforms, on behalf of its members.

For more visit merlinnetwork.org.

Calvin Harris has secured a $13.5 million judgment in the first phase of a bitter legal feud with his longtime business manager Thomas St. John, whom the EDM star has accused of abusing their financial relationship to fund a real estate “boondoggle.”

Harris (real name Adam Wiles) initiated arbitration proceedings this summer, alleging that in 2023, St. John fraudulently funneled $22 million from the Scottish DJ’s accounts towards a Hollywood recording studio and office space development called CMNTY Culture Campus, which never broke ground and has since undergone foreclosure. St. John denies Harris’ claims as “categorically false” and maintains that the artist was a willing investor.

Harris funded CMNTY Culture in two tranches: a $10 million loan and a $12 million equity investment. Retired federal judge Michael R. Wilner, who’s refereeing the dispute in confidential arbitration, ruled in December that St. John undisputedly failed to repay the loan by its due date.  

“Hollywood LLC and TSJ are each jointly and severally liable to claimants for the principal sum of $13,438,666.55 with respect to respondents failure to pay claimants under the loan documents, which consists of: the loan principal ($10,000,000), the total interest payments ($2,666,666.56), the origination fee ($200,000), the exit fee ($200,000), and the late charge thereunder ($371,999.99),” reads Judge Wilner’s order, made public by Harris’ team in a Jan. 7 motion to confirm the arbitration award.

The retired judge has not yet made a decision about the status of Harris’ $12 million equity investment or the larger question of whether St. John engaged in fraud to procure the funding. Those issues will continue to be litigated in ongoing arbitration.

Reps for Harris and St. John did not immediately return requests for comment on Wednesday (Jan. 14).

A deep dive by Billboard last year reported that the CMNTY Culture project arose from the sale of songwriter Philip Lawrence’s catalog of Bruno Mars hits in 2020. Lawrence opted to park some of the proceeds from that deal in a real estate venture to take advantage of tax benefits and brought on St. John, his business manager, as a partner.

St. John eventually became the sole steward of CMNTY Culture after Lawrence exited due to financial issues. It was then that St. John turned to Harris for funding, also taking on other investors and a $35 million loan from real estate credit firm Parkview Financial.

St. John never built CMNTY Culture. Instead, the project stalled amid a downturn in the Los Angeles office space market, and CMNTY Culture announced plans last year to pivot to a residential real estate model instead. But it has now defaulted on the Parkview loan, which was secured with the Hollywood land as collateral.

Parkview foreclosed on CMNTY Culture in December and bought out the property for $25 million. The lender filed a lawsuit against St. John on Tuesday (Jan. 13), alleging he still owes another $16 million to satisfy the initial loan, plus interest.

Meanwhile, St. John’s future as a business manager looks uncertain. The U.S. arm of his eponymous management firm, Thomas St. John Group, declared bankruptcy last year and is currently trying to liquidate its assets. In addition to the Harris arbitration, fellow EDM star Eric Prydz sued St. John in November for allegedly taking $269,000 in unauthorized commissions. St. John denies those claims as “wholly fabricated.”

J. Cole is back.

The North Carolina rapper followed up announcing the the long-awaited release date for his upcoming album The Fall-Off with what is looking like the project’s lead single. And while he didn’t provide a title for the song, he did hint at The Fall-Off being a double disc by naming the track “Disc 2 Track 2,” so it’s safe to assume the tracklist will be revealed in due time.

The video, directed by Ryan Doubiago, starts off with a disclaimer before taking us through an Inception-like labyrinth of Cole’s life in reverse as the rapper narrates his story in the same fashion almost reminiscent of Nas‘ “Rewind.”

The disclaimer reads: “For the past 10 years, this album has been hand crafted with one intention: a personal challenge to myself to create my best work. To do on my last what I was unable to do on my first. I had no way of knowing how much time, focus and energy it would eventually take to achieve this, but despite the countless challenges along the way, I knew in my heart I would one day get to the finish line. I owed it first and foremost to myself. And secondly, I owed it to hip-hop.”

As far as the production goes, there hasn’t been a producer credited yet, but fans have pointed out that he’s rapping over a leaked beat from the scrapped Drake and Ye collab album Wolves.

The Fall-Off will be J. Cole’s first full-length solo album since 2021’s The Off-Season, and his first project post-Big 3 battle when he released the mixtape Might Delete Later and walked back the Kendrick Lamar diss song “7 Minute Drill.”