Courtesy of dotmusic.com - October 10th, 2002

Last night's MOBO Awards were dominated by the continuing meteoric rise of Ms Dynamite and a phenomenal performance by LL Cool J.

Pint-sized 21-year-old ragga dynamo, Ms Dynamite, took home three awards for UK act of the year, best newcomer and single of the year ('It Takes More').

As presenter of the show, LL Cool J proved level-headed, minimising the damage of a typically precarious live production. As one of the evening's highlight performers he was utterly charged as he powered through a medley of classics.

Hosted by LL and Aleesha from Mis-Teeq, the awards were just as chaotic as regular guests have come to expect. But none of the live performances suffered with Chaka Khan, Sugababes, LL Cool J, Jimmy Cliff and Dave Stewart, Sean Paul, Ashanti, Ja Rule, Ms Dynamite and Craig David all impressing onstage.

Craig David premiered his much-anticipated new track, 'What's Your Flava', a Rodney Jerkins-style digital production with a Michael Jackson twist in the vocal and a vocoder outro.

Ja Rule started proceedings with two pole dancers either side of the stage, pulling off impossible contortions at great heights as the tiny performed his hit, 'Livin' It Up'.

The evening's musical highlight came when LL Cool J abruptly quit his performance of Neptunes-produced new single, 'I'm Bad' to deliver a medley of hits. The Hip-Hop veteran who released his debut album in 1985, performed classics including 'Mama Said Knock You Out', 'Rock The Bells' and 'I'm Bad' as pyrotechnics heated up the front rows.

Classics came from Lifetime Achievement winner Chaka Khan with 'I'm Every Woman' and Jimmy Cliff, winner of the Contribution To Music Award, who performed two songs with Dave Stewart.

Emotional tributes were made to recently passed away R&B star Lisa 'Left-Eye' Lopes who was awarded Outstanding Achievement and Aaliyah who won Best Video for 'More Than A Woman'.

It wasn't all about Hip-Hop and R&B, Angelique Kidjo won the Best World Music Act and accepted her award with a traditional African song and Sean Paul won Best Reggae Act.