Music

Dave wins 2019 Hyundai Mercury Prize for the album Psychodrama

Dave beat the likes of Anna Calvi, The 1975, and Foals for the prestigious prize (Picture: Getty/BBC)

Dave has won the 2019 Hyundai Mercury Prize for the album Psychodrama.

He beat the likes of Anna Calvi, The 1975, and Foals for the prestigious prize.

He collected the winners trophy and a cheque for £25,000 before performing Psycho from his winning album.

Surrounded by his family, the British star couldnt stop hugging his mother before he was called up to the stage.

I dont know what to say… I want to thank God and I want to invite my mum onto the stage, he said.

I want to thank everyone that made this happen, I want to thanks all the exceptional musicians that came and performed tonight, I did not expect this. I respect you all so highly.

He went on to dedicate the award to his brother Christopher who inspired the album.

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This is your story we told, he shared.

British rapper Dave (L)
He went on to dedicate the award to his brother Christopher (Picture: Getty)

Psychodrama is the musical equivalent of a literary masterpiece: a conceptual album about Daves experience of growing up in South London, structured in the form of a therapy session, which takes a deeply personal story and gives it universal relevance, said the judging panel which included Stormzy and Jorja Smith.

Psychodrama is a moving, musically sophisticated work that tackles complex themes of identity, class, relationships and politics and demands total attention from the listener.

It will have lasting relevance for a generation and underlines the importance of the album as an art form, making it the perfect winner of the 2019 Hyundai Mercury Prize.

Born David Orobosa Omoregie, the 21-year-old studied sound design and politics at De Montfort University in Leicester while taking to YouTube and releasing mixtapes before making it on to Fire In the Booth in 2016.

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Psychodrama came out in March, and reached number one, with his single Funky Friday also achieving the top spot.

Dave
Dave collected the winners trophy and a cheque for £25,000 (Picture: WireImage)

As well as rapping, Dave (sometimes known as Santan Dave) is proficient at playing the piano, and he will be acting in the Netflix iteration of Top Boy later in the year.

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At Glastonbury at June, he went viral when teenager Alex Mann was brought on stage to perform on of Daves most popular songs, Thiago Silva, with him.

The 2019 judging panel Read More – Source

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