Skepta has been crowned the winner of the Mercury Prize for 2016 as announced by Jarvis Cocker.
Other acts nominated included Kano and The 1975 – the former represents the grassroots scene, and the latter is a rising star of indie pop.
The 25th year’s coverage was on BBC4 and opened by Lauren Laverne at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. Skepta performed ‘Shutdown’, followed by The 1975, Michael C Hall, Radiohead (who weren’t actually in the room so we knew they weren’t going to win), and Michael Kiwanuka, who was also nominated for his first album at the Mercury ceremony in 2012.
It’s exciting for a grime artist to win – as Skepta said: “people are catching on. There’s a revolution happening.” He’s the second grime MC to win a Mercury Award, after Dizzee Rascal in 2003 won with Boy In Da Corner.
The bookie’s favourite tonight was David Bowie, with Blackstar tipped as being a possible posthumous win, although many argued he shouldn’t have been nominated because the prize is to represent current British music.
He dedicated the award to his parents who were on stage with him – he was also joined by his Boy Better Know crew.
Check out his music below:
