Sampha Wins The 2017 Mercury Prize

South London singer Sampha has won the 2017 Mercury Prize for album of the year for his debut LP Process, beating the likes of Ed Sheeran and Stormzy to win the coveted accolade.

The 28 year old star, full name Sampha Sisay, released Process back in February this year, after a lengthy five-year recording process from when he initially broke through as a guest vocalist on SBTRKT’s album. He had hitherto been best known for singing on other artist’s songs, with his distinctive soulful vocals gracing records by the likes of Beyonce, Kanye West and Drake.

The writing of Process was heavily influenced by the death of his mother from cancer as he cared for her, and by his fears for his own health.

The full list of nominees for the 2017 award was: Alt-J’s Relaxer, Blossoms’ Blossoms; Dinosaur’s Together, As One, Ed Sheeran’s ÷, Glass Animals’ How To Be A Human Being, J Hus’ Common Sense, Kate Tempest’s Let Them Eat Chaos, Loyle Carner’s Yesterday’s Gone, Sampha’s Process, Stormzy’s Gang Signs & Prayer, The Big Moon’s Love In The 4th Dimension and The xx’s I See You.

More: In defence of Young Fathers winning the Mercury Prize [archive]