Pharrell Williams
has ditched his duties as host of the 2004 MOBO Awards, Europe’s premiere
award show for outstanding black music.
The cancellation
left organizers scrambling for a host for the event which tapes tomorrow (September
30th).
"I fully support
the MOBO Awards and unfortunately due to scheduling problems I will be unable
to host the show," Williams said in a statement. "I look forward to
coming to the UK later this year and hope to work with the MOBO Awards in the
future."
Mos Def, who is
in London filming the movie “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,”
has been tapped to replace Williams as host.
Williams’
was to present with Misteeq star Alesha Dixon. According to sources, he wasn’t
happy with the organizations choice of co-host.
Williams wanted
someone he was familiar with, but in the end, Dixon announced that she could
not host the awards either, due to a concert engagment in Dubai.
The MOBO’s
were involved in a mild controversy when nominees were announced, to the amount
of American artists who were nominated for awards.
Jay-Z, Outkast,
Usher, Kanye West, Alicia Keys and other artists were nominated, but none are
scheduled to attend the actual awards show.
The annual urban
music ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall will be broadcast on the
BBC October 6th.
