Skepta and Kano's Mercury Prize Nominations Is Proof the Music Industry Has Finally Given Them the Respect They Deserve

In past years, the Mercury Prize hasn't been useful for anybody except maybe dads who want records to play in the car to make them feel cool but also safe. They are made up of albums that are objectively decent, but entirely irrelevant to what is happening in British music. They are for people who still buy CDs from actual shops. Last year, while you were playing J Hus on repeat, some Scottish dude called C Duncan was being nominated for the Mercury Prize. You’re still playing J Hus on repeat, and where is C Duncan?

Anyway, this year the Mercury Prize has got it right because they just went and stuck Skepta on the shortlist with Konnichiwa and Kano with Made in The Manor. Now, neither Skepta nor Kano need any sort of recognition because they are certified music veterans. If you asked us what our two most important cultural exports are, we would not say brown sauce and pingers. Well, maybe we would. But we would also say Skepta and Kano, such is the importance of their contributions to grime and music as a universal concept. So it's pretty meaningful to see two of grime’s most pivotal voices finally get the serious music industry respect that they earned ages ago.

The rest of the shortlist isn’t bad either. Anohni’s Hopelessness is glorious and David Bowie is David Bowie so he should be nominated for every award that exists, even if he doesn’t qualify, and even though he’s no longer with us. Still, if The 1975 win over either Skepta or Kano, we will know for sure that 2016 is the final year and the UK doesn't deserve continued existence. See the full list of nominations below, and scroll down to watch our documentary on Skepta, which is so good we gave it a name written out in full caps lock - “TOP BOY: (THE DOCUMENTARY)”.

Anohni, Hopelessness
Bat For Lashes, The Bride
David Bowie, Blackstar
Jamie Woon, Making Time
Kano, Made In The Manor
Laura Mvula, The Dreaming Room
Michael Kiwanuka, Love and Hate
Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
Savages, Adore Life
Skepta, Konnichiwa
The 1975, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It
The Comet Is Coming, Channel The Spirits

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