The songs “No Thank You” by Little Simz, “Alpha Place” by Knucks, “Reason to Smile” by Kojey Radical, “Breezy” by Chris Brown, “God Did” by DJ Khaled, “Mother” by Cleo Sol, and “We’re All Alone in This Together” by Dave are also up for consideration.

Chris Brown, Beyonce, Lizzo, Drake, DJ Khaled, Cardi B, Coi Leray, GloRilla, Latto, 21 Savage, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, and Jack Harlow will compete for the title of Artist of the Year (USA).

In the UK, the shortlist includes Central Cee, Mahalia, Knucks, Stormzy, Ms. Banks, A1 x J1, Cleo Sol, and Jnr Choi.

The ceremony will air on VooVix TV, which has also announced it’s re-launching its flagship reality TV show, ‘Britain’s Next Urban Superstar’.

Auditions take place in London on February 13, and the finalists will be announced at the UMA’s on February 28.

Founder and President of the UMA’s, Jordan Kensington, commented: “The UMA’s at it’s core has always been about mentoring, nurturing and assisting the next generation of artists as well as celebrating the present class of amazing breakthrough talent. 2023 marks 19 years of tenacity, hard work and perseverance. To see the aftermath of urban music becoming the new popular genre worldwide is a huge dream we had 19 years ago. We are both excited and pleased that hard work and consistency paid off.”

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