Rapper Speech Debelle takes the £20,000 prize as she was crowned winner of the Mercury Music Prize 2009 for her debut album, Speech Therapy.
Speech, real name Corynne Elliot, who at 26 still lives with her mum, Marilyn Dennis in Mitcham, South London said after her triumph last night, “There’s a lot of music that sounds the same, all day on the radio, and my album don’t sound like their album and it’s still won the Mercury Prize. Hopefully this will throw a wrench in the system and people will hear this album and realise they don’t have to make music that sounds the same – they can make music that sounds good.”
Surprisingly, Debelle credited Miss Dynamite for her success, “Miss Dynamite’s Mercury win had been an inspiration. Seeing her made it a reality for me. She looks like me, she sounds like me – it made me think “oh, I can do that”".
The Mercury Prize was created in 1992 in order to recognise the best British or Irish album of the year and it is awarded by a panel of musicians, producers, journalists and other industry figures purely on artistic merit and not on sales or success.
Last year winners were Elbow with ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’.
The nominees for the Mercury Music Prize 2009 were:
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Florence And the Machine – Lungs
Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
La Roux – La Roux
Led Bib – Sensible Shoes
Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men
The Horrors – Primary Colours
The Invisible – The Invisible
A well deserved winner, me think!
Congrats! the only way is up now Speech!
