last night the 2016 Mercury prize ceremony was held in London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Acts such as Savages, The 1975 and Bat for Lashes performed live at the event, which is held every year to celebrate the short listed albums of the year. Skepta’s win comes at a surprise to many – not only was it expected that David Bowie would win posthumously for his final album Blackstar, the last grime artist to win the prize was Dizzee Rascal in 2003.
Skepta looked completely shocked when he was announced as the winner, with Pulp frontman and judge David Crocker saying that if “David Bowie were looking down at the Hammersmith Apollo tonight, he would want the 2016 Hyundai Mercury Prize to go to Skepta.” Skepta had many friends and family with him, including his parents and brother JME, who all came with him onstage, and dedicated the win to his parents. Skepta’s said he is going to use the £25,000 prize money to “do something positive,” so it’s probably just as well he won and not the 1975, who said they would have spent it on “endless, endless drugs.” Congrats to Skepta! Watch the moment he wins and his speech below:
