The Barclaycard Mercury Prize exists solely to champion music in the UK, mainly through the Albums of the Year competition, which celebrates recorded music of all genres by British or Irish artists, with the music on the album as the only thing taken into account. The twelve Albums of the Year were announced back in July with the overall winner decided just now!


This year, the prize goes to a most deserving, Speech Debelle! largely viewed as amajor underdog, this longshot was praised for her cutting edge hip-hop and pop vibe, as heard throughout her debut album, Speech Therapy.

Check out Debelle's official video for The Key, which she also performed during the Mercury Prize ceremony earlier today.



Debelle thanked her family, friends and band members during an emotional acceptance speech.

mp3: Speech Debelle - The Key (Loose Cannons Remix)