James Blake has been crowned the Mercury Music Prize Winner 2013 with his sophomore album Overgrown.
Blake was chosen as the winner from a shortlist that included the likes of Arctic Monkeys, David Bowie, Jake Bugg, Foals and the bookies’ favourite Laura Mvula.
Upon accepting the award, Blake said: “Thank you to my parents for showing me the importance of being independent.” He now joins the previous winners of the prestigious album award, who include Primal Scream, Elbow, Ms Dynamite, Antony & The Johnsons, Speech Debelle and last year’s winners Alt-J.
The award’s show drew criticism this year from My Bloody Valentine, who slammed it for its “corporate-ness.” Of the show, MBV’s Kevin Shields said: “We’re banned by them, and do you know why? Because we’re not on Amazon or iTunes. That’s one of the qualifying criteria. You have to have major distribution or be on iTunes or Amazon.”
To see the full list of artists Blake was picked from, click here.
Photo: Wikipedia
