Having postponed the original awards ceremony due to the Queen’s passing in September—called off at the very last minute after guests had already arrived—the Mercury Music Prize returned to London’s Eventim Apollo last night and named Little Simz as the big winner for her masterpiece fourth album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.
Also in the running for the prize—which comes with a cash prize of £25,000—were Harry Styles, Wet Leg, Sam Fender, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Nova Twins, Kojey Radical, Yard Act, Joy Crookes, Fergus McCreadie, Self Esteem and Gwenno.
The only act to be nominated for the second time, Simz last made the shortlist for her third album, Grey Area, at the 2019 ceremony but lost out to Dave for Psychodrama.
The album was produced by her childhood friend and lifelong collaborator, Inflo, who—funnily enough—also produced the winner of the 2020 prize, Michael Kiwanuka’s Kiwanuka, alongside Danger Mouse, scooped a BRIT Award for Best Producer and handled a sizeable chunk of the production on Adele’s 30.
Accepting her award, Simz told the crowd: “Wow. I’m very very overwhelmed; I’m very grateful. Glory to God! God, thank you so much. To my family over here, my loved ones right here, I wanna say a huge thank you; to the Mercurys, for this incredible, incredible prize... I wanna say a thank you to my brother and close collaborator Inflo—Flo [has] known me since I was so young; he stuck by me [and] we created this album together. There was times in the studio I didn’t know if I was gonna finish this record. I was going through all the emotions [but] he stuck by me.”
Jamz Supernova, who presented Little Simz with the award, said: “The album that we have chosen deals with themes both personal and political; the music is as sophisticated as it is varied. This is a truly exceptional album.”
