Idris Elba was presented with the MOBO Inspiration Award today (23.09.14) – an honour he described as "very special".
The actor-and-DJ is the first ever recipient of the accolade, which has been created by Kanya King, the founder of the awards.
According to Kanya, Idris was selected to be the inaugural winner due to his determination to "help and inspire the next generation of talent" in the UK and because he is an "individual who has achieved formidable success in his respective field, against all odds and as such acts as an inspirational figurehead".
The ‘Prometheus’ star was presented with the prize at the MOBO nominations announcement event, held at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, and although he was genuinely humbled to win it, Idris was relieved it wasn’t a differently titled award.
Upon being handed his statuette by Kanya, he said: "I thought you were going to say Lifetime Achievement Award or then – I’m just too young. I want to say thank you so much this is an amazing honour. I never thought I’d ever hold one of these. I think the spirit of MOBO is about growing, you know, and if I was just a musician then I wouldn’t get one of these but if I am someone that believes in life expanding your horizons, just like MOBO is doing, and trying to inspire others to do the same then this is a very special award for me and I’m very thankful for it."
Idris hopes the success he has achieved in his career will inspire the "millions" of other talented people to follow and fulfil their dreams.
He added: "You know my history, I’ve been very honest about all the sides of my journey, I didn’t have success very early and I went through some very dark times but the main thing I kept doing was to keep looking for inspiration. I also kept growing and it hasn’t stopped and I want to keep doing that and I also want to inspire others.
There are millions of me sitting at home right now and they don’t know it and it’s good to get this sort of platform and say, ‘Come one guys, go for it.’ "
The MOBO Awards take place at Wembley Arena in London on October 22.
Idris Elba wins MOBO Inspiration Award
