- Music
- 15 Sep 16
Grime superstar beats out bookies favourite David Bowie to land the prestigious award
Skepta has won the Mercury Prize for 2016 with his album Konnichiwa.
The grime artist was not the favourite going into the evening - David Bowie's Blackstar the hottest tip for the gong - but the unflinching and daring LP from the Londoner saw him follow in the footsteps of genre pioneer Dizzee Rascal in claiming the award.
The album, which tackles issues including police harassment and the nosedive of Westminster politics, has been heralded as a work fully in tune with modern Britain; consequently, reaction has been swift to hail the decision to mark Konnichiwa as the finest collection from the UK and Ireland this year.
Bowie fans will, of course, be disappointed, as will supporters of Anohni, whose Hopelessness was also a frontrunner.
A bizarre moment saw Bowie's own PR team take to Facebook and reveal that his album was not the prize winner - before the announcement was made at the ceremony at the Hammersmith Apollo.