The Mercury Prize 2016 is bringing grime back to the spotlight with Skepta and Kano

Britain’s homegrown rap genre is back after Dizzee Rascal’s 2003 Mercury win
Stark and futuristic: Skepta's fourth album Konnichiwa has been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize
Rex
David Smyth4 August 2016

When Dizzee Rascal won the Mercury Prize in 2003 for his debut album Boy in Da Corner, a new, homegrown musical genre called grime reached a much broader audience than the pirate radio stations on which it was born.

It has taken this long for the unmistakable sound to come back from the underground and reach it again.

This time, Mercury nods for two grime albums made by men in their 30s – Skepta’s Konnichiwa and Kano’s Made in the Manor – are just one mainstream acknowledgement among many.

Skepta’s stark, futuristic fourth album went to number one, and Kano earned his first top 10 with his contrastingly maximalist fifth. Bigger stars in their corner now include Drake, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West and Damon Albarn.

Other Mercury talking points include the traditional Radiohead appearance (their fifth), and a shortlist place for Anohni for an angry, political, electronic album that couldn’t be more different from the piano ballads she won with in 2005, when trading as Antony and the Johnsons.

Expect much public desire for a David Bowie victory, though a first posthumous Mercury winner wouldn’t work well on the TV show.

In its 25th year, the Prize is fiddling with the format more than ever, changing venues, changing sponsor, adding more big name judges and reducing the shortlist of 12 down to six on the night (one of which can be chosen by the public) before announcing a winner.

Mercury Prize 2016: the shortlisted albums

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A regular criticism, but I think, a good thing, is the equal weighting given to number one stars and jazz oddities (try The Comet is Coming this year, they’re fun). Now some albums are more equal than others.

The Mercury panel is also often criticised for favouring the sound of the moment over all-time classics, hence Klaxons beating Amy Winehouse and Roni Size triumphing over Radiohead’s OK Computer. This time, grime’s time in the spotlight doesn’t seem so fleeting. This year’s rappers would be worthy winners.

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