Speech Debelle

The winner of the Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2009 is… Speech Debelle for her album 'Speech Therapy'.

The young South Londoner overcame a lot to create her debut and won over fans and critics alike with her original style, unique wordplay and, above all, her sense of humor. With that motivation, the prestigious Mercury Prize for 'Album of the Year' was awarded to Speech Debelle. She competed against names like Kasabian, La Roux, Bat For Lashes and Lisa Hannigan.

Her voice is warm and young, but Speech is surprisingly honest in her lyrics, without degenerating into one of those rappers with more complaints than insights. She drags you into her universe and makes you happy that you visited it. One thing is certain, this is hip-hop like it has never been made before.