Little Simz has won this year’s Mercury Prize for her 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. The London rapper was the second-time nominee in a field of artists that included Fergus McCreadie (Forest Floor), Gwenno (Tresor), Harry Styles (Harry’s House) Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler (For All Our Days That Tear The Heart), Joy Crookes (Skin) Kojey Radical (Reason to Smile), Nova Twins (Supernova), Sam Fender (Seventeen Going Under), Self Esteem (Prioritise Pleasure), Wet Leg (Wet Leg), and Yard Act (The Overlord). Before accepting the award at London’s Eventim Apollo on Tuesday night, Simz performed a song from the album, ‘How Did You Get Here’.
“Wow. I’m very very overwhelmed. I’m very grateful,” Simz said in her acceptance speech. “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 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.”
The Mercury Prize judging panel said in a statement: “In a year that has, to put it mildly, presented rather a lot of challenges, British and Irish music has thrived more than ever. That made it extremely hard for the judges to choose an overall winner from the 12 ‘Albums of the Year’ on the 2022 Mercury Prize with FREE NOW shortlist, simply because all of them had so much to offer. When it came down to it, the judges were so impressed by Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz that everyone could get behind it. This accomplished and complex yet entirely accessible album is the work of someone striving constantly to push herself. It deals with themes both personal and political while putting them against music that is as sophisticated as it is varied. The Mercury Prize is all about shining a light on albums of lasting value and real artistry. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert has both.”
And the winner of the 2022 Mercury Prize with @FreeNow_UK is… @LittleSimz – 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert' 💫 🏆#MercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/PqMWA59e0C
— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) October 18, 2022
