Oct 18, 2022
By Mark Redfern
Photography by Nwaka Okparaeke
Little Simz has won the 2022 Mercury Prize. It was announced tonight in a ceremony in London that was originally supposed to happen in September, but was postponed at the last minute when the Queen died. Little Simz won for her 2021 album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. Stream it below.
Other nominees this year included the latest albums by Wet Leg, Yard Act, Gwenno, Harry Styles, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Self Esteem, and more. The full list is below.
Read our review of Sometimes I Might Be Introvert here.
Since 1992 the Mercury Prize has been awarded to the best British album of the year, meaning an album created by a citizen of the U.K. and Ireland. It’s become one of the biggest honors a British musician can receive and can also boost an album’s sales in the U.K., especially if it wins.
The eligibility period for this year stretched from July 2021 to July 2022.
Arlo Parks won last year. Michael Kiwanuka won in 2020. British rapper Dave won in 2019. Wolf Alice in 2018. In 2017 Sampha won, the year before it was Skepta, and the year before that it was Benjamin Clementine. The Mercury Prize started out strong with Primal Scream’s Screamadelica winning in 1992 and Suede’s self-titled debut winning in 1993. There have been lots of great artists who have also won since, including Pulp, Elbow, Portishead, Franz Ferdinand, and others. Although they don’t always get it right and there have been some forgettable winners as well.
Mercury Prize 2022 Nominees:
Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler: For All Our Days That Tear The Heart
Joy Crookes: Skin
Sam Fender: Seventeen Going Under
Gwenno: Tresor
Fergus McCreadie: Forest Floor
Kojey Radical: Reason To Smile
Little Simz: Sometimes I Might Be An Introvert
Nova Twins: Supernova
Self Esteem: Prioritise Pleasure
Harry Styles: Harry’s House
Wet Leg: Wet Leg
Yard Act: The Overload