London, UK: The popular London rapper Little Simz’s fourth album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, has won the coveted 2022 Mercury Prize.
The 28-year-old north London rapper and actor was the only second time nominee in the pool of artists who otherwise were up for their first Mercury Prize.
When the award-winning album was released a year ago, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert peaked at number four on the UK album chart.
Simz is the 31st recipient of the highly sought-after Mercury Prize, one of the highest honors in music.
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 Mercury for this incredible, incredible prize. I wanna say a thank you to my brother and close collaborator [producer] Inflo – Flo [has] known me since I was so young, he’s stuck by me, 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 … he stuck by me.
Little Simz revealed in her award acceptance speech.
The winner also celebrated her fellow nominees by stating that, “All of you guys are incredible, we all made incredible albums, we all change people’s lives with our music and that’s the most important thing, so this is for us really, you know what I’m saying?”
The award, which is given to the year’s greatest British or Irish album, has a cash payout of $28,161 (£25,000).
The event for this year was moved from September 8 since that date fell on the same day as Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. Simz gave a nighttime performance of her song How Did I Get Here.
Artists Ms. Anna Calvi, Mr. Jamie Cullum, and Mr. Loyle Carner, as well as broadcasters, DJs, authors, and business leaders, served on the jury for this year’s Mercury Prize.