Mercury Prize Awards 2023 - Ezra Collective wins top honour at star-studded bash

07 September 2023 , 21:13

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Ezra Collective win the 2023 Mercury Prize with their second studio album Where I'm Meant To (Image: PA)

Ezra Collective has won this year’s Mercury Music Prize for their second album Where I'm Meant to Be and the £25,000 cash prize at a star-studded ceremony in London.

The jazz quintet were among a dozen acts who were in the running for the prestigious award – alongside Raye, Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again.. The announcement was made by DJ Jamz Supernova during the award ceremony, which recognises the best British or Irish album of the year, at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, west London, on Thursday evening.

Accepting the prize onstage, bandleader Femi Koleoso thanked God, their team and family who have supported them through the years. He said: “Most importantly Ezra Collective represents something really special because we met in a youth club.” The drummer added that this award represents the importance of putting “time and effort into young people playing music”.

Loyle Carner, Young Fathers and Jockstrap were among the favourites to win the coveted industry honour, which recognises the best British and Irish albums from the last year. The prize is open to all music categories, and was announced live by host Lauren Laverne on BBC Four and 6 Music from the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith.

James Mollison, Joe Armon-Jones, Femi Koleoso, Ife Ogunjobi and TJ Koleoso of Ezra Collective pose with awards as they attend The Mercury Prize 2023 awards show (Redferns)

The 12 nominees on the shortlist of artists and albums were: Arctic Monkeys with The Car, Ezra Collective with Where I’m Meant to Be, Fred Again… with Actual Life 3 (January 1 - September 9, 2022), Jessie Ware with That! Feels Good!, J Hus with Beautiful And Brutal Yard, Jockstrap with I Love You Jennifer B, Lankum with False Lankum, Loyle Carner with hugo, Olivia Dean with Messy, RAYE with My 21st Century Blues, Shygirl with Nymp and Young Fathers with Heavy Heavy.

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Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys made on the shortlist for the fifth time, and tied with Radiohead as the most-nominated act in the prize’s history. Performers on the night included Ezra Collective, J Hus, Jessie Ware and Jockstrap, but Arctic Monkeys and Fred Again were missing from the evening’s line-up due to touring commitments.

Bookies named rapper Loyle Carner as favourite to win at 4-1, thanks to his critically-acclaimed album Hugom which was inspired by his relationship with his estranged father, and previous winners Young Fathers were had odds of 5-1 of winning. However, the Mercury Music Prize is well known for picking unpredictable winners, with Pulp winning the coveted honour in 1996 with Different Class, and Arctic Monkeys' iconic debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in 2006.

Jessie Ware was also shortlisted for the coveted honour (Redferns via Getty Images)

But huge artists have been overlooked by the judging panel, such as Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black, which lost out the The Klaxons’ Myths Of The Near Future in 2007. And in 2003, rapper Dizzee Rascal beat the likes of Coldplay’s Rush of Blood to the Head to scoop the coveted prize with his debut album Boy In Da Corner.

Shygirl, who was nominated for her album Nymph, told NME she was “torn” being up against some “amazing artists”. “Half of me is like, ‘You totally deserve this’ and the other half is like, ‘I’m so grateful!’ That’s why Shygirl is like a juxtaposition in itself. I do feel like you have to back yourself,” she explained. “It’s just great to be in the room with so many other amazing artists.“

Young Fathers, who were another favourite to win the prize, said being awarded the honour in 2014 helped bring their music to a much wider audience, but they’ve grown tired of the industry in the years since. “We’ve managed to maintain a spartan attitude and chipped away,” they told the Independent. “It’s also a terrible time for music and bands on this island in terms of how almost impossible it is to keep going.”

Emma Wilson