Mercury Prize 2019: Dave scoops award for debut album Psychodrama

1/12
Jochan Embley20 September 2019

Dave has been named as the winner of this year's Mercury Prize for his debut album Psychodrama.

The Streatham rapper, who was joined on stage by his mum as he collected the award, beat off competition from the likes of The 1975, Foals and Anna Calvi at a ceremony at Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith.

Slowthai was named as the bookies' favourite in the lead up to the ceremony, closely followed by Bristol punks IDLES.

Speaking as he accepted the award, the 21-year-old said he wanted to "thank God" and paid tribute to his brother: "I want to thank my brother Christopher, that inspired this album.

"This is your story. Even though you can't be here with us today I know you're watching this, bro."

The 12-strong judging panel this year featured artists Stormzy and Jorja Smith, alongside a number of prominent figures from the worlds of music and journalism. They were tasked with deciding on the best British or Irish album to be released in the past year.

More than 200 entries were whittled down to a shortlist of 12 albums.

Psychodrama has been widely hailed by critics and fans as one of the finest releases of 2019, with Dave's sharp, socially conscious lyricism, clever wordplay and sleek production garnering particular praise.

Dave now joins a list of winners that includes Skepta, PJ Harvey, Dizzee Rascal and Arctic Monkeys. The inaugural prize was awarded to Primal Scream for their album Screamadelica back in 1992.

Previous winners of the Mercury Prize - In pictures

1/27

The full list of artists and albums nominated for the 2019 prize is below:

  • Anna Calvi — Hunter
  • Black Midi — Schlagenheim
  • Cate Le Bon — Reward
  • WINNER: Dave — Psychodrama
  • Foals — Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1
  • Fontaines D.C. — Dogrel
  • IDLES — Joy as an Act of Resistance
  • Little Simz — Grey Area
  • NAO — Saturn
  • SEED Ensemble — Driftglass
  • Slowthai — Nothing Great About Britain
  • The 1975 — A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT