Mercury Prize 2024

[Michael17]

The more I think about it, Jockstrap remind me a lot of Wolf Alice, so I wouldn't be surprised if they broke away and won it.

 

[Robert]

The winner is

Ezra Collective

Very sweet winner's speech!

 

[Blond]

Really deserved, their performance was phenomenal. Really enjoyed Raye, Young Fathers and Loyle Carner too. The nominees were great this year.

 

[montyburns56]

I wonder which London artist will win it this year?

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

 

[Blond]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

I don’t really agree with this take. I think the only worthy contenders this year were black artists and a lot of the best UK music (with genuine critical acclaim) tends to come from black people from London. I’m interested to know who you might have thought deserved it this year?

 

[bestinase]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

This dumbass take. Log off.

 

[colouroffensive]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

This is absolutely not the take you think it is, my goodness. It’s giving Kelly Osbourne making that comment about Hispanic people and cleaners energy reaaaaallllll bad.

 

[Beb]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

Yikes.

 

[Wild Man.]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

This is racist and shows a complete lack of critical thinking whatsoever. Delete your account.

 

[2014]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

Not all the members of Ezra Collective are black though? Which makes this even more stupid.

 

[minorkey]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

Every black winner of the past few years comes from different ethnic backgrounds and ancestries but of course to you they're all the same. Thanks for giving us a peek into how your mind works.

 

[Fabian]

With that logic you could say the same about award shows giving it to predominantly white people. I’d also argue London being the place where a lot of these artists move to be around creative people and to get more gigs/label interest.

 

[Booers]

The prize goes to the album the judges collectively agree is the worthy winner. I don't think any judge will be going "hmmm, white and from outside the M25 - it's a no from me". They will all be listening to these albums for weeks before the award night and basing it on the music, creativity, songwriting etc.

 

[adayasatiger]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

This is a very strange take, especially considering that the last 15 winners (most of whom are POC, sure, so what?) have absolutely nothing in common, musically. Like, I may have been a little sympathetic to your point if it was just one genre of music being privileged over others, but... Ezra Collective, Arlo Parks, Little Simz, Dave, Sampha, Benjamin Clementine? It's almost as if the judges are actively trying to pick from every corner of the musical map.

 

[londonrain]

As I predicted and not only do they keep giving it London artists it's nearly always black artists as well. It's strange how this lack of diversity is acceptable to the taste makers in the music world.

I can understand an argument about leaning towards London (although in fairness London is massive and also is where a huge portion of the industry is situated) but the argument about “this lack of diversity” doesn’t make sense when you’re talking about black artists. As has been pointed out before, Ezra Collective isn’t an all-black group (and neither is Young Fathers, who are from Edinburgh). Wolf Alice won in 2018 and I don’t believe they have any black members. And, as @adayasatiger pointed out, it’s not like the winners have been predominantly from a particular genre of music.

So what is the lack of diversity you’re talking about? Your post comes off as saying “there are too many black winners” without acknowledging that there’s actually quite a lot of diversity in the recent winners.

 

[Vasilios]

Without even looking, Jessie Ware, Baron Again.. and Arctic Monkeys absolutely do not need the Prize so I'm not sure where this pro-white extravaganza comes from.

 

[ManilaChinchilla]

I don't think the Mercury Prize needs to tick any boxes. I think the raison d'etre of the prize is music that is meant to inspire, to reach, to solidify who and what we are in 2023 as humanity. The right act won with the right sense of mind and display.

 

[Vasilios]

Also Ezra Collective's album is so good on first listen? New fan.

 

[A-Bond]

Not agreeing w Montyburns at all and also super happy for Ezra's Collective victory, but I do think the Jockstrap album is super nice and would've been a cool winner too, especially since this kind of Pop music has also been a bit neglected by the Mercury Panel. From Track 3 it's an entire victory lap.

 

[montyburns56]

This is a very strange take, especially considering that the last 15 winners (most of whom are POC, sure, so what?) have absolutely nothing in common, musically. Like, I may have been a little sympathetic to your point if it was just one genre of music being privileged over others, but... Ezra Collective, Arlo Parks, Little Simz, Dave, Sampha, Benjamin Clementine? It's almost as if the judges are actively trying to pick from every corner of the musical map.

Okay, so if white artists had won the prize for 90% of the previous years, are you saying that no one would be saying anything about the lack of ethnic diversity of the winners?