Last night at the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Awards, a shocked Speech Debelle accepted the coveted Mercury Prize for best British album of the year. The 26 year-old rap artist won the award for her debut hit “Speech Therapy” which had seen wide release back in June. 

Debelle beat out other nominees for the award which included expected winners Florence and the Machine and Kasabian, as well as more experienced veteran artists La Roux, Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, and Bat for Lashes. Debelle’s win continued a running tradition for Mercury judges who have been making unexpected choices for winners.

The Mercury Prize has been being awarded every year since being founded in 1992. Previously the prize show was sponsored by the Nationwide Building Society, but has since had Barclaycard take over sponsorship. The prizes are notorious for recognizing newcomers or non-mainstream acts, and typically will put different genres up against each other in the same categories. The winner of the prize is the recipient of 20,000 pounds, although the real prestige is in the actual honor itself.

Nominated acts are judged by various critics and industry professionals, and the award focuses solely on musical talent, record sales, media exposure, and live performances are not taken into consideration. Most notable artists to have received this award in the past include Dizzee Rascal, Badly Drawn Boy, and last year’s winner Elbow for “The Seldom Seen Kid”. Robbie Williams and Radiohead have both been nominated for the award but never won.

Martin Talbot, the Official Charts Company managing director, said that after her win Speech Debelle will see a surge in popularity for her music as well as interest from record execs as well. He also went on to say that Debelle’s album is one of the less established album to win the Mercury Prize and the win should boost her sales significantly.

Speech Debelle is a 26 year old rapper whose debut album “Speech Therapy” dropped last June. Debelle hails from South London.