Skepta Wins The 2016 Mercury Prize!
Skepta has won the 2016 Mercury Prize! The Grime revival shows no signs of slowing down as the MC won with 'Konnichiwa', an album (his fourth) that he recorded, produced and released himself.
The Tottenham MC is the first Grime artist to win the Mercury Prize since Dizzee Rascal’s 'Boy in da Corner' in 2003.
Skepta – real name Joseph Junior Adenuga - was absolutely the right artist to take home the gong, and we weren't the only ones celebrating his win. Check out Skepta's Mum's dancing reaction:
On collecting the winner’s trophy and cheque for £25,000 the ‘Shutdown’ MC said, “The star is the person on the mic who always gets seen but I want to say thank you to every single person who made 'Konnichiwa' happen.”
“Thank you to everybody who was there for me when I was going through depressed times. I don’t know man, I’m so thankful … With no record label we just travelled the world,” the grime star added.
Skepta also paid tribute to fellow grime artist Kano, whose album 'Made in the Manor' was one of 2016’s best: “Kano did this for us and the love is there. Kano, love you for life man,” he said.
The judging panel (names listed below) said, “This is such a great record! Confident, funny, clever, scary, personal and political. Skepta makes music for our times”
Check out Skepta's performance of 'Shutdown' at the award show below:
The 2016 Hyundai Mercury Prize Albums of the Year:
Anohni - 'Hopelessness'
Bat For Lashes - 'The Bride'
David Bowie - 'Blackstar'
Jamie Woon - 'Making Time'
Kano - 'Made in the Manor'
Laura Mvula - 'The Dreaming Room'
Michael Kiwanuka - 'Love & Hate'
Radiohead - 'A Moon Shaped Pool'
Savages - 'Adore Life'
Skepta - 'Konnichiwa'
The 1975 - 'I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it'
The Comet Is Coming - 'Channel the Spirits'
The 2016 Judging Panel:
Phil Alexander - Editor-in-Chief, Kerrang!, Mojo and Q;
Clara Amfo - Broadcaster
Jarvis Cocker - Musician and Songwriter
Jamie Cullum - Musician and Broadcaster
Harriet Gibsone - Music News Editor; The Guardian/TheGuardian.com
Will Hodgkinson - Chief Rock & Pop Critic The Times
Shahid Khan aka Naughty Boy - Musician, Songwriter and Producer
Annie Mac - DJ and Broadcaster
Ellie Rowsell from Wolf Alice - Musician and Songwriter
Kate Tempest - Musician, Poet and Author
Jessie Ware - Musician and Songwriter
Jeff Smith - Head of Music, 6 Music and Radio 2
The judging facilitator is Simon Frith - Professor of Music, Edinburgh University.