The Mercury Prize was awarded on October 29 and Music Times has to admit we were way off in our predictions. Although we were pulling for the debut album from FKA Twigs, the prize for the best album from the UK in the last year went to Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers for its own debut album, Dead, as reported by NME.
"Young Fathers have a unique take on urban British music, brimming with ideas - forceful, unexpected and moving," said Simon Frith, the chair of the judges for the prize.
Hip-hop is not exactly a genre ignored by the Mercury Prize as three other albums have been selected for the prize during this millennium—Ms. Dynamite's A Little Deeper (2002), Dizzee Rascal's Boy in da Corner (2003) and Speech Debelle's Speech Therapy (2009)—but Young Fathers was still a relative surprise pick. The album was given 16/1 odds to win according to The Guardian.
Part of those low odds were tied to the strength of the competition. FKA Twigs has gathered critical acclaim from audiences around the world, and fellow competitor Damon Albarn was considered a frontrunner thanks to his status in British music (and of course his well done solo album Everyday Robots). Another reason why people may not have seen Young Fathers coming is its low sales numbers. The group has only sold 2,400 copies in the UK since its release.
Expect that to change in the aftermath of the group's victory.
Even if they didn't take home a win, some performers can at least smile knowing the nomination for the prize resulted in major sales boosts. FKA Twigs and Royal Blood saw huge sales boosts in the run-up to the announcement.
Young Fathers apparently didn't have an acceptance speech planned.
"Thank you. Thank you. We love you all, thank you," was the entirety of their comments upon being announced as the winner.
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