Dave and I made our way to London via the Oxford Tube bus which is convenient and not too pricey. We were somewhat entertained by strangers Charlie and his mates, sitting behind us. It was difficult not to overhear their excitement and conversation regarding their plans for the evening, which was going to the Snowboarding World Cup event at Battersea Power Station. While they were discussing their evening, we were getting excited too, on our way to the Urban Music Awards.

Bloomsbury is one of my favorite areas in London. It was the first place I stayed when I arrived in England a few years ago. This time of year, the streets are especially quaint, walking along, over the crisp fallen leaves… so I wasn’t too disappointed to find out that although we arrived, press passes in hand, at the Bloomsbury Theatre on time, we were an hour early. So, with some time to spare, we wandered around and found our way to the pleasant Cafe Toscana.

An hour later and back at the theatre, things were bustling and as the crowd made their way into the reception area, we headed straight for the bar…and then proceeded to people watch. A very nice looking crowd indeed, many dressed to the max, girls in short sequined dresses of all colors, guys dressed in suits along with some familiar faces.

One of those familiar faces was none other than Levi Roots! He was up for an award in the Best Entrepreneur category, which I felt was well deserved as we’ve been following his career since his successful appearance on BBC’s Dragon’s Den when he was given funding for his – and my favorite – Reggae Reggae Sauce.

We talked to Levi before the show. He has a new album and video out, and I asked him if he plans to come out with a milder Reggae Reggae Sauce. He said the current sauce isn’t that spicy! He looked great, a sharp dresser, and I was happy to find out that his warm and friendly personality that comes across on TV is the same in person.

Watch Levi Roots – “So Out Of My Mind” video:

After the announcement that the awards show was about to begin, we went into the theatre, found some good seats, and we were ready for the show.

Awards Presenters included:

Comedian Roland Rivron, Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace (Big Brother 7), former boxer Frank Bruno, Paul Danan (Reality TV, former Hollyoaks actor), British MP George Galloway, actress Linda Robson, Christian artists Adam and Matt Brooks and R&B group Cleopatra.

Performances included:

Sons of Soul (SOS) “Candy Girl”; Sway; Wild Sugar; K.I.G Family “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”; Meleka “Go”; Lazee “Hold On”; Dj Luck and Mc Neat “A Little Bit of Luck”; Egypt “In The Morning”; Britain’s Next Superstar singers/contestants and Brick & Lace.

Voted by the public via the UrbanMusicAwards website, winners included:

Best Newcomer: Egypt
Best Radio Show: James Meritt (Kiss)
Best Entrepreneur: Levi Roots
Best Collaboration: Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne “Down”
Most Inspiring Act 2009 (?) Brick & Lace
Best Music TV Station: Flava TV
Best Jazz Act: Yolanda Brown
Best Album 2009: N-Dubz ‘Uncle B’
Best Producer: Blessed Beats
Best Hip Hop Act: Sway
Best Music Video: K.I.G “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”
Best UK Asian Act: R.D.B
Best Gospel Act: Guvna B
Best R&B Act: Brick & Lace

The founder of the Urban Music Awards Jordan Kensington thanked his mother who was in attendance and talked about helping to get kids inspired at 200 schools and colleges. Children in The Urban Poets vs Double MDO (not sure of the spelling) performed poems about success, and from audience response, Double MDO won the Young Achievers Award.

I hope to get official documentation regarding winners, performances etc. which I’ll publish here on BandWeblogs.com when available, or in the meantime, go to the Urban Music Awards Official website.

Notable Performances / Ones to Watch: Sway; Wild Sugar: hopefully I’m spelling that right – I’m unable to locate their website, but Wild Sugar was fantastic. Three girls singing up front with nine dancers behind them. The main vocalist’s voice was somewhat reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald, with some scat singing thrown in for good measure. Great to hear young artists singing in that style; Meleka: she has a great voice, looked fabulous on stage in her sparkly silver dress and I really like her debut single “Go”. She pulled Entrepreneur of the Year Levi Roots up to the stage and he good-naturedly danced along with her; Swedish rapper Lazee; Cleopatra: when they presented the Best R&B Act Award, they sang part of a song acapella and announced that they’ll be back in 2010. I’ll look forward to hearing their new material.

The night was fun and entertaining and the setting was intimate. There were some glitches – a couple times when presenters were announced to come out, we were left in complete silence as nothing happened – to then be told that the presenter wasn’t available to present the award. But I guess “technical difficulties” are to be expected at this kind of event.

Also, it was disappointing to see that it wasn’t a full house and I’m not sure if that was due to keeping the awards show more low key this year because of the violence that erupted, as Sway mentioned when he accepted his award, last year at the larger 2008 Urban Music Awards at the O2 arena in London, or if there were other reasons.

I hope that more people continue to go out and support UK artists of this genre, either by checking out live shows and/or buying the music, as there are a lot of talented artists and musicians out there, performing their craft and entertaining audiences.

On our way back home on the Oxford Tube, we were coincidentally reunited with – still strangers – Charlie and his mates, as they sat behind us again and loudly talked about the Snowboarding World Cup and the winners of the event. It was good to hear the results.

For more information, go to:

Invincible Group
Jordan Kensington on Twitter

Urban Music Awards Official Website

By: Jenny May

The Urban Music Awards celebrated its 7th anniversary with a successful 2nd return to the home of urban music New York City on the 17th of July 2009 at the prestigious Hammerstein Ballroom.

Rihanna won Best Music Video and Best Female Act whilst R&B superstar Akon took the gong for Artist of the Year.

Kanye West’s self acclaimed album, 808 & Heartbreak took the award for Best Album 2009 whilst Best International Latino Act went to Enrique Iglesias, new comer, Kid Cudi took home the Best Single for “Day & Night”.

Bobby V stole the show with an electrifying 10 minute performance and taking home awards for Best R&B Act 2009 & Best Male Act.

UK rapper and Urban Music Awards USA nominee for Best Collaboration, Sway performed “Silver & Gold” which sees the UK previous UMA winner collaborate with another US superstar Akon. Sway’s performance got the whole New York audience dancing.

HipHop legend KRS 1 commented “Sway is on a league of his own, this is what the HipHop game needs and only the UMA could bring us to see performances like this”.

The awards show sponsored by Levi’s, Vitamin Water, Proximity Blue, Awani Inc, and Invinciblemobile.com saw a host of exclusive performances, surprises and winners who all joined in the excitement for what was a truly a successful event.

The host of the Urban Music Awards 2009 came courtesy of renowned producer, Amadeus of Diddy’s camp, part of Diddy’s Hit making team, Bad Boy Entertainment who delivered a fantastic job.

Winner of the Best Producer category, Swizz Beatz said “The Urban Music Awards is one of the most exciting events I have been to in a long time and I want all the celebrities, artist, and sponsors to come and support the Urban Music Awards. If you love Urban Music like I do, then you have to love the Urban Music Awards”.

The Urban Music Awards USA has confirmed plans for next year’s awards show to be held in Los Angeles with a host of celebrities from Television, sports, and music world already lining up to attend.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom version of the UMA’s returns on home turf on the 1st of November 2009.

Public can commenced nominating @ www.urbanmusicawards.net

Other winners for the 7th annual Urban Music Awards included:

Artist of the Year
Akon

Best Album
Kanye West ‘808’s & Heartbreak’

Best Gospel Act
Kirk Franklin

Best International Latino Act
Enrique Iglesias

Best Music Video
Rihanna ‘Rehab’

Best R&B Act
Bobby V

Best DJ 2009
Funkmasterflex

Best Radio Station
Hot 97

Best TV show
Harlem Heights

Best HipHop Act
Jay Z

Best Magazine
HipHop Weekly

Best Male Act
Bobby V

Best Collaboration
Ron Browz ft. Jim Jones & Julez Santana ‘Pop Champagne’

Best Female Act
Rihanna

Best International Reggae Act
Movado

Best Producer
Swizz Beatz

Best Single
Kid Cudi for ‘Day & Night’

UMA Living Legend Award (1)
KRS 1

Lifetime Achievement Award
Grandmasterflash

See pictures of the UMA 2009

Buy Music:

R&B on amazon.com

R&B on amazon.co.uk

For more information, go to:

Urban Music Awards Official Website

Last night I was excited to see that Nicole Atkins was scheduled to play on Later Live…with Jools Holland.

A few months ago I was lucky to have had the opportunity to interview Nicole Atkins over the phone – and then the next day to watch her play an intimate show at the Soho Review Bar in London. I was able to see first hand what a talent she was and knew then that she had the ‘full package’ to reach out to many, many more people – with her excellent songs, charming stage presence and determination.

Originally from Neptune, New Jersey and having toured across the US, making appearances on shows like Late Night with Conan O’Brien and David Letterman, Nicole is probably more known in the States than here in England, however, after her strong performance last night on Jools Holland (her British television debut), I’m sure she’s gained even more fans from across the pond.

Other acts included:

Kings of Leon (”Sex On Fire”); when VV Brown came on, at first I wasn’t quite sure what to think, but then as the song went on (”Crying Blood”), her quirky soulful/punk grew on me and now I’ll be interested to hear more about her; Sway featuring Lemar (”Saturday Night Hustle”); and the First Lady of France Carla Bruni was interviewed by a flirtatious Jools Holland and then later was on with her “Tu Es Ma Came” single. It’s strange seeing a President’s wife hanging out with musicians and then singing live with a band…a first for me anyway. Has this ever happened before? With any other country’s First Lady?!

Nicole Atkins performed her dreamy pop single, “Maybe Tonight” off of debut album, ‘Neptune City’ and then Metallica closed the 30 minute night of varied music with their single, “The Day That Never Comes”. All members ended up taking solos, which was interesting on live TV, coming dangerously close to running over time. Now that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll…BBC style!

Later with Jools Holland Official Website

By: Jenny May