 Madame President, ladies, gentlemen and colleagues, it's an honour and a great pleasure to introduce to you a woman who's played a vital and pioneering role in the musical life of this country. Her work to promote and celebrate Britain's vibrant cultural diversity resonates strongly with SOAS in many ways. She's the founder and CEO of the MOBO organisation. MOBO stands for Music of Black Origin, a broad term that covers a wide range of some of the world's most influential styles like soul and hip hop, which ultimately have roots in Africa, but they've developed in very distinctive ways here in the UK. Her involvement with this comes directly from her own background. Canya King grew up in a large family with a Ghanaian dad and Irish mum in a crowded council flat in Kilburn, a community in north London where people have settled from all over the world. She remembers being surrounded by musicians who were immensely talented but frustrated by the lack of a space to get their music heard. Back in the days before social media, remember those, artists had to rely on TV and radio, and that depended on their being signed to major record companies. This alerted Canya to a huge void in the mainstream music industry, which didn't acknowledge many homegrown forms of music that were emerging out of Britain's communities of black origin. In 1996, while working for TV as a researcher, she decided to stage a televised music awards event that would better reflect Britain's diversity. She only had six weeks to make it happen, and she lacked financial backing, but none of that put her off, so she funded the event herself by remortgaging her own house. Although MOBO was an unknown entity at the time, the idea of a platform for music of black origin clearly struck a chord. Canya got some of the biggest names of American music over, including hip-hop artists The Foojies and soul singer Lionel Richie, to attend that very first ceremony, and that's a measure of her persuasiveness. MOBO soon became the showcase for homegrown styles like garage, jungle, and grime. UK artists, so solid crew Craig David, Miss Dynamite, Gabrielle, Stormzy, Akala, Laura Mvula, and Emily Sande, to name but a few, all gained international recognition, largely thanks to Canya King's initiative. In 1999, Canya received an MBE for her contributions to the music industry, just one of many accolades she's since been awarded. Now, in its 21st year, MOBO has gone from strength to strength, hosting many top music stars, as well as showcasing up-and-coming talent from both sides of the Atlantic, as well as from the African continent. It's branched out into educational and mentoring initiatives beyond the world of music to include fashion, dance, and film. SOAS greatly looks forward to welcoming this inspirational entrepreneur to our own hugely diverse community. She shares with SOAS the idea that music and the arts are a powerful expression of identity, capable of transcending racial and cultural divide, an effective tool for social activism. Music at SOAS is located in our new Cutting Edge School of Arts Department, which offers a multitude of programmes, placing the arts and media in a global perspective, drawing on our long-established regional expertise. The great musical traditions from Africa and their legacy around the world are central to our own dynamic programme of study, performance, and research. To give you an example, one of our most popular music courses is called Global Hip Hop, and it looks at how this art of music and poetry has been re-signified and reinvented by new generations across the globe as a form of hard-hitting social comment. SOAS has only awarded two honorary doctorates in music to date. The first went to the great conductor Daniel Barenboim for his work with young musicians in Palestine. The second went to the maestro from Mali West Africa, Tumanijabate, for his innovative Chora playing. And now we're thrilled to be awarding a woman who's an outstanding role model in so many ways. We applaud her for her commitment and dedication to music and the arts. The importance of this work cannot be underestimated as it's now more urgent than ever to understand and to celebrate Britain's unique diversity. Our new Doctor of Music is at the forefront of music of African origin in its broadest sense and its widest reach. Madame President, it's my privilege to invite to address this assembly and to receive the honorary doctorate in music, Kanya King. Good afternoon everyone, ladies and gentlemen, families of friends, and all you graduates to whom I offer my sincere congratulations. A very, very special thank you to Lucy for her most generous citation. Thank you so much. I'm humbled to receive this honour from Dame Gracia Michelle, who not every day you get presented with a degree from someone whose humility, wisdom and humanitarian efforts are changing the world and enabling so many to speak who are voiceless. I also want to take this opportunity to thank sister Baroness Valerie Amos, a noble role model and someone who I've greatly admired for her trailblazing work over many, many, many years. Now when I look back on the year I started the mobile organisation, it was 1996, which was a dramatic year for black culture. In America we saw the deaths of Tupac and Ella Fitzgerald, while in the UK we witnessed a significant moment when Nelson Mandela made his first visit to Britain following his release from prison. At the top of the list of places he wanted to see was Brixton, an area closely identified with the struggle for equality. Free Nelson Mandela, a simple, powerful song performed by the British group of specials and their anti-apartheid message made us feel that we're part or something much bigger than the sum of its parts. Music has always had that power to transcend culture divides and stand up to injustices and inequality. At the time, Brit Pop was riding high with the Spice Girls part of the new era in pop, but when it came to reggae, hip-hop or R&B, the powers at B were not at all receptive. These genres were practically invisible to the mainstream despite being used in advertising to promote products and services. When I then started vocalising the need for more inclusive platforms, I was told again and again and again that British acts performing black music don't sell records. Black music events always attract trouble and the police will shut them down. If the media won't want to come, there is no audience for this type of event, why are you putting all your energy and money into this? Media will not get behind it, it will never work. I had to shut out all the outside noise, the detractors and the doubters as I was determined to try and get recognition for all this talent that was being overlooked and wasted so that they could help ensure that the next generation would not be excluded from their into dream and be inspired to achieve success regardless of their background. Dreams are things that fill each and every one of us with hope and excitement. In fact, dreams are so potent they've been the motivating force behind some of the greatest moments in our human history. I recently heard that nearly two thirds of people in the UK give up on their dream career by the time they're 20 years old. Many of these people stated that they gave up due to lack of confidence while others said they didn't feel they had the right skills. Rather like many of you who'll be starting your careers, when I started out all those years ago, I did not have any experience in the sector I went into, the music industry, nor did I have the skills and expertise that you were expected to have. I didn't have any use for contacts or connections at the time, but what I did have, I now realise, was far greater. I had a mixture of passion, perseverance, drive and a clear purpose that gave me the strength and motivation to pursue my goals. My purpose was to empower creative people coming from similar backgrounds to myself to be able to live up to their potential and take control of their own destiny and I was determined not to waver from that ambition. Being able to live my life creatively and express myself is invaluable to me and witnessing so much frustration growing up with my parents, I wanted to help others avoid a future of missed opportunities and regrets. Over the past 21 years, I've been in a position to lead MOBO and celebrate the excellence of talent in music, film and creative arts so to now be recognised myself is not only unexpected but very humbling and I'm usually thankful to be honoured in this way so I'd like to take this opportunity to dedicate this award to a few important people in my life. So first and foremost to my deceased parents who despite their relentless struggles against injustices taught me always to be the best I can be. I would also like to take this opportunity to dedicate this award to my partner for his unwaven support and backing. My son, who is a great inspiration to me, he has shown me how to appreciate the little things in life as one day you look back and realise that they are the big things. And to my dear effervescent friend Diane, who is here, I want to also thank her and to all you graduates I would like to say have the confidence to go in search of your dreams and try not to become a person of success but rather try to become a person of value. And lastly, I'd like to take this opportunity to dedicate this award to the school careers officer I went to see when I was a teenager who told me to be very realistic about my limited career options coming from a humble background and being on free school meals. I want to thank her for putting the fire in my belly for making me realise that only I could influence my own destiny. As the only person you are destined to become is a person you decide to be. Good luck. Thank you for listening.