woman to claim the title
Dancehall star Shenseea grabbed the 2021 Music Of Black Origin (MOBO) Award for Best Reggae Act, and in so doing, became the first female artiste to win the Reggae Award since its inception in 1996.
The awards ceremony took place at the Coventry Building Society Arena in London, England on December 5, and marked the first in-person show since 2017.
Shenseea, 25, shared the news with her 4.7 million followers via her official Instagram page.
“I won a MOBO Award (fire emoji) @moboawards Thank you to all who voted,” she wrote.
The official MOBO Instagram page also posted: “Huge congratulations on @shenseea for winning BEST REGGAE ACT…”
Shenseea is set to release her debut album in early 2022, under Rvssian’s Rich Immigrants label.
The other nominees in the category were Lila Ike, Popcaan, Sean Paul, Skillibeng, and Spice.
This year's nomination was the second one for Spice. Sean Paul, who commented on Shenseea's post on Instagram, congratulating her, has won the award six times — in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2013.
Popcaan won the award in 2015 and 2016. This year was his seventh nomination.
He, too, commented on Shenseea's Instagram post, leaving the following: ❤️❤️❤️.
Buju Banton won the Best Reggae Act award last year.
The awards show returned this year with its first live ceremony since 2017 and was held on Sunday, December 5.
The MOBO Awards was started in 1996 by Kanya King to celebrate the incredible talent of black origin making music in the United Kingdom. It honours the artistic and technical achievements of exceptional British and international talent in hip hop, grime, R&B and soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Afrobeats.