Clara Amfo, Amelia Dimoldenberg, BICEP and Kojey Radical celebrate the rising stars of the music industry

Last night, the Youth Music Awards 2023 in association with Hal Leonard Europe saw stars such as Chicken Shop Date presenter and youth music advocate,
Amelia Dimoldenberg; BBC Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo; and hip-hop, neo-soul artist,
Kojey Radical attend a star-studded ceremony at London’s iconic Troxy.

The annual event represents a more diverse, inclusive and creative music industry, by platforming young people facing the biggest barriers to accessing music.

Event attendees celebrated 12 award winners,
judged
by renowned members of the music industry, including
Amelia Dimoldenberg, singer and BRIT nominated Rising Star,
Joy Crookes; synthpop band, Hot Chip; and artist Kwabs;
alongside journalists, presenters and tastemakers.
Each award was sponsored
by some of the UK’s most prolific music, fashion and culture brands, including Amazon Music, Levi’s, Ticketmaster and TikTok.

Categories included Lyricist Award, Original Track Award (Group),
Music Producer Award and Original Track Award (Solo),
with the winners of these awards
faced with another surprise as
Clara Amfo, Kojey Radical, BICEP and MNEK stepped on to the stage to present their awards.

Amelia Dimoldenberg said:
“It feels amazing to be here tonight to support young creatives and young musicians. It was an honour to be a part of the judging panel – I really loved sharing the expertise I have, and hope that it will be beneficial to the career paths of these future
stars.”

Clara Amfo, Radio 1 DJ and presenter said: “As we all know we can’t help the circumstances we are born into, so it’s all about levelling the playing field. There are very important people in this room that have made a huge difference, so let’s keep supporting grassroots music to give everyone the same chance.”

UK rapper and singer, Kojey Radical,
said: “It’s an absolute honour, the Youth Music Awards are so important. I wish I had something like this when I was
coming up. Looking around seeing so many familiar faces, it’s nice to know so many of my peers also support the Youth Music Awards.”

Following another year where music festivals and award ceremonies faced criticism for lacking representation, the Youth Music Awards celebrated under-represented groups
and appealed to the industry to ‘Take Note’. Performers included alternative music sister duo
ALT BLK ERA and visionary artist
Richard Carter. BBC Sounds 2022 star, Priya Ragu, closed the event, with silky renditions of her
vibrant tracks from her forthcoming album SANTHOSAM followed by Capital Xtra DJ Kennedy Taylor who took to the decks with a mix of the best
of R&B and Hip Hop.