Indian-Brit pop sensation RIKA aka (Chandrika Darbari) won the Award for The Artist of the Year ASIA at the 18th annual Urban Music Awards 2022. The highly anticipated occasion celebrates the immense success and recognition of the talented music industry
Over 2.7 million music fans voted this year via the official UMA website. Beyonce, took home the award for Best Collaboration for the track ‘Already’ featuring Shatta Wale and Major Lazer. Whilst Ed Sheeran was voted Artist of the Year (UK) beating off stiff competition. UMA Alumni, Ghetts who has been making waves in the charts recently bagged the prestigious award for Best Album for ‘Conflict of Interest’. Viral sensation ‘Soulja Boy’ won Most Creative Artist and he commented via video “I am so happy right now and i want to thank the Urban Music Awards for its continued support for my music and all the music fans worldwide”.
British Indian, pop singer, RIKA took home the award for the artist of the year ASIA. She was nominated in the category of Best Artist of The Year along with Arjun B.Praak,Gurj Sidhu, Sidhu Moosewala, Neha Kakkar, Jasmine Sandlas,Pak – Man,Ezu, Prophec and Karan Aujla. RIKA has appeared on the Brits’ ‘Sunday Spotlight’ as its featured artist, won ‘Best UK Female Act’ at the BritAsia TV Music Awards in 2019 and received the ‘Rising Star’ award at the Asian Awards the same year. She has also been awarded the Pride of India award and was championed by BBC Radio 1 with plays on ‘Best New Pop’ and ‘Track of the Week’.
Born to an Eastern European mother and an Indian father, Rika has grown up in North-West London and is one of the few to break into the vibrant Western music scene as a British-Asian artist. Rika’s music draws upon her multicultural upbringing. In 2016, she penned and performed the song “For Peace in Syria” with her brother. The video was shot in Delhi and received over 900,000 on Youtube.
Warner Music India has signed its first artist, RIKA, in an ongoing bid to bring Indian sounds to the global stage. She says, “I am very honoured to win this award, it is not just for me but for my family, my team, my fans and everyone who has supported me in my career and this is only the beginning.”
With many more great singles and collaborations lined up for 2022 she is on the rise for taking over the world of pop. She has had millions of views on YouTube and millions of streams across all streaming services.
The Urban Music Awards is the biggest celebration of Hip-hop, R&B, Soul, Reggae, EDM, Gospel, Afrobeat, and EDM music in the world. Launched 18 years ago, the award show now has annual versions in North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Europe. This year over 4.3 million music fans were nominated from all UMA territories and public voting is now live via the official UMA website.
