Dave, Arlo Parks, and upcoming artist Little Simz lead this year's nominations for the Mobo awards. 

The annual award ceremony celebrates and recognises black music and culture and will return live next month in Coventry. 

Organisers of the event said that this year's nominees have shown "talent and range" and have been "resilience" following the toughest year ever for artists with the pandemic forcing a stop to performances. 

Clash singer, Dave is up for five awards including best hip hop act, album of the year, best male act, song of the year, and video of the year. 

Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks is up for three besides Little Simz and Cleo Sol. 

Park is nominated for best newcomers, the album of the year, and best female act. 

Little Simz is up for best female act, best hip hop act, and video of the year. 

Plus this year will also see a new award up for grabs for best drill act, with nominees including Headie One, Tion Wayne, Digga D, and Unknown.

London-based rapper Central Cee has also had an impressive Mobo debut with four nominations for the best male act, best drill act, song of the year, and best newcomer. 

Fellow nominees for best newcomer include Backroad Gee, Joy Crookes, Enny, and Pinkpantheress.

For best performance in a TV show or film, Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya is nominated for his role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, plus Black Panther actress Letitia Wright is nominated for her role in the British anthology series Small Axe. 

Founder and CEO of Mobo Group, Kanya King have said "The past 20 months have been extremely challenging for artists everywhere but as always we are seeing creatives rise up and adapt, even in a global pandemic".

Adding that they "could not be prouder to celebrate their achievements across the 18 categories that span genres, as well as excellence in TV, film, and media.

"Congratulations and best of luck to all of our nominees. Here’s to a big night."

The Mobo awards will take place on December 5 at Coventry Building Society Arena.