And The Mercury Goes To… Speech Debelle!

By Ben Liew  •  09 Sep 2009 in News

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDjZjsollho[/youtube]

Big ups to UK rapper Speech Debelle who took home the coveted Mercury Prize last night! She is the first woman to take home the award and £20,000 prize money, since fellow London-born rapper Ms Dynamite won in 2002. JUICE featured her in the September issue. You can read about her here.

“It means a lot to me because it’s an award judges give solely on the strength of the album,” she said. “Before they said my name I had a moment of doubt, I thought ‘what if I don’t win? What about all the people who supported me?’ and then they announced my name and I didn’t have time to react, I was being mobbed.” (source: www.guardian.co.uk)

Speech beat other competitors including Brit rockers Kasabian, The Horrors, Glasvegas and a strong female line-up of La Roux, Bats For Lashes and JUICE fave Florence & The Machine.

The Mercury Prize, now in its 17th year, is known for its left-field choices, often giving cred to up-and-comers over established artists. Past winners have included Roni Size, and Talvin Singh, while giants like Blur and Radiohead have been nominated multiple times, but have never won.

Checkout Speech Debelle’s video (featuring Micachu) for ‘Better Days’ below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfDxv0qQokI[/youtube]