Akon  & Bobby Valentino  grab triple nominations this year whilst  Neyo , J. Holiday, The Dream, Keri Hilson, Musiq Soulchild, Jazmine Sullivan and previous UMA winner Estelle  bag double nominations. 

On receiving the UMA Living Legend award 2009, Grandmasterflash said “I am honoured to receive this award and i can’t wait to attend the awards show in July. The Urban Music Awards is different from all other awards shows because it represents the whole world. Our music is mainstream and we have to connect with our fans from all around the world to build an even bigger community so thank you to all my fans worldwide and the UMA for this opportunity”.

 Grandmasterflash who was originally born in Barbados also joins fellow Barbados superstar, Rihanna who leads the pack with a phenomenal comeback. The singer is up for four awards – Artist of the Year, Best R&B Act, Best Female Act and Best Music Video for single ‘Rehab’.

Successful British talent, Amy Winehouse, M.I.A and Estelle dominate the Best Female Act category this year and in the Best Television Show category, it’s a battle between MTV, FOX and BET. With  Diddy’s  hit show ‘Making the Band’ receiving a nomination followed by Simon Cowell’ s American Idol with FOX and  finally BET’s  triple entries, 106 & Park, Harlem Heights and Rip the Runway.

Comeback king, Eminem manages to grab a nomination for his comeback single ‘Crack a Bottle’. On hearing of his nomination.  D12 commented “We thank all the fans around the world who keep supporting us. The Urban Music Awards and Invincible has always been a great support especially within Europe and Asia and we are excited and looking forward to  taking part in the celebrations at the Urban Music Awards USA in New York City”.

The Urban Music Awards was born to give music fans all around the world an opportunity to ‘nominate’ and ‘vote’ for all the music they strongly support. This year, the official website ; www.urbanmusicawards.net  received over 1.2 million submissions from music fans as far across as Japan, Australia, Dubai , Switzerland,  Norway, United Kingdom and most importantly throughout North America.

 Since its inception in 2003, the Urban Music Awards has set itself apart from other awards ceremony by first being the only Hip Hop, R&B, and soul awards ceremony to be held in six countries annually and by being the only awards ceremony that gives YOU the public full deciding power on who gets nominated and who ends up winning the prestigious awards. The Urban Music Awards has gone on to fly the flag for  Hip Hop, R&B , and soul  music all around the world with a database of over 12,000 booking agents and tour promoters with an aim of connecting artists with various touring and booking opportunities worldwide. Our return to New York City marks the second time since 2007. The 2007 event was attended by over 3,000 guests at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan and broadcast to over 14 countries worldwide. 

In 2009 the Urban Music Awards USA is proud to welcome our brand new sponsors; Levi’s (The world’s number 1 jeans company), Proximity Blue, Invincible Mobile, Sonicbids.com and more to be announced shortly.  The Urban Music Awards will be webcast live to millions of viewers worldwide and the televised show will also be syndicated for broadcast via 12 channels across the USA, Africa, the Caribbean and Europe. An estimated total television audience of over 48 million viewers will get to watch the awards show making it the biggest most watched Hip Hop, R&B and soul awards ceremony in the world.

Below is the press links from our press launch at the start of the month;

Covered by every single major media;

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/gossip/view/79539/Rihanna-leads-2009-Urban-Music-Awards/