The first
MOBO Awards took place in 1996 at London's
Connaught Rooms, broadcast on
Carlton Television. Appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999, King was promoted
CBE in the
2018 Birthday Honours List. Having graduated as a
BA (Hons) from
Goldsmiths' College, King was later awarded an
honorary fellowship of
Goldsmiths, University of London (2004), an
honorary doctorate of
Business Administration at
London Metropolitan University (2006) as well as an
honorary doctorate of Music from
Leeds Metropolitan University (2008). In 2011, King was named one of London's Most Influential People by the
London Evening Standard, one of Britain's Most Entrepreneurial Women (Real Business) and has been regularly listed in the
Powerlist as one of Britain's Most Influential Black People. She was recognised by the music industry in 2016, with the "Media Pioneer Award" at the
Music Week Women In Music Awards. In 2017, Kanya King spoke to the
Evening Standard about building the MOBO Awards brand from being a single mother at the age of 16. as well as
Music Week about the 22nd MOBO Awards being the strongest yet. King appeared alongside four multi-millionaire panel members in the ITV series
Fortune - Million Pound Giveaway (2007), where members of the panel decide which "contestants" to award no-string grants, based on the merits of their pitch. In February 2013, King was rated as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by ''
Woman's Hour'' on
BBC Radio 4, and also featured on the
BBC's 100 Women. On 29 October 2015, King was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 60 in the list of 100 Most Influential British Entrepreneurs. Despite battling bowel cancer, in March 2026 King celebrates thirty years of the MOBO awards, as well as the establishment over time of the MOBO Fringe Festival, MOBO Unsung, MOBO Musicians Amplified, and House of MOBO. ==Honours and awards==