Deyah has been announced as the winner of the Welsh Music Prize 2020 with her album Care City. For the first time in the new music prize’s 10-year history, the winner was announced via a digital ceremony which featured a surprise appearance from Michael Sheen.
A panel of music industry experts selected the winner from a shortlist of 15 albums, showcasing the range of creative talent in and from Wales. The winner, Care City by Deyah, was chosen as a powerful self-produced and self-released album which fuses laid-back beats, lyrical flow and occasional song from the Cardiff MC who tackles subjects such as addiction, isolation and healing. Deyah’s previous album Lover Loner was also shortlisted for the Welsh Music Prize in 2019, in the same year that she was added to BBC Introducing’s Hot List for International Women’s Day.
In her acceptance speech, Deyah said: Winning the Welsh Music Prize for Care City is a total surprise but a complete honour. It’s a body of work that documents the hardest season I’ve ever gone through and for it to be nominated let alone win is so humbling, I’m so grateful! With this album I want to educate people to live life without pressure of expectation".
Huw Stephens, the Welsh Music Prize’s co-founder, said, “Deyah’s Care City impressed the judges immensely with her personal, poetic and intricately produced album. She’s a young Welsh artist who is really making her mark on the music scene, and we’re thrilled for her to be the 10th recipient of the Welsh Music Prize. Care City is a phenomenal listen, her words and flow are outstanding.”
The online event, streamed through welshmusicprize.com and amam.cymru, took place on Zoom with the presenters, artists, judges and jurors, replacing the usual live event due to COVID-19 restrictions. It included a surprise appearance from Michael Sheen, a long-standing champion of music and the arts in Wales.
Michael Sheen said, “The incredible richness, the imagination, the creativity that is represented by all the nominees this year is extraordinary. I’ve been blown away by it. It makes me feel incredibly proud to know that people across the world are able to get a window into who we are in Wales through this music, because you are our voice internationally."
The 15 shortlisted Welsh Music Prize 2020 albums were:
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Mirores – Ani Glass
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Chaos Wonderland – Colorama
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Ofni – Cotton Wolf
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Care City – Deyah
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Steel Zakuski – Don Leisure
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Mai – Georgia Ruth
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Pang! – Gruff Rhys
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Eyelet – Islet
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Bring Me The Head of Jerry Garcia – Keys
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A Vision In The Dark – Kidsmoke
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Sbwriel Gwyn – Los Blancos
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Valley Boy – Luke RV
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Zone Rouge – Right Hand Left Hand
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Everything Solved At Once – Silent Forum
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Iaith Y Nefoedd – Yr Ods
Deyah now joins a list of winners that includes Adwaith (2019), Boy Azooga (2018), The Gentle Good (2017), Meilyr Jones (2016), Gwenno (2015), Joanna Grusome (2014), Georgia Ruth (2013), Future of the Left (2012), Gruff Rhys (2011).
The Welsh Music Prize ceremony also revealed Eädyth, Mace The Great and Malan as this year’s winners of the Triskel Award. The Triskel Award was created by the Welsh Music Prize team in 2019 to celebrate and support three emerging artists that offer a bright future for music in Wales. With the support of Help Musicians, the artists each receive an industry support package including a creative development award of £500, free access to the Musicians Hearing Health Scheme (MHHS) and two hours of business planning with a music industry expert.
The judging panel for this year’s Welsh Music Prize included: Angharad Jenkins (musician/composer), Daniel Minty (Minty’s Gig Guide), Emma Zilmann (Bluedot/Kendal Calling), Ffion Wyn (Ladies of Rage), Gemma Cairney (BBC Radio/author), Mark Sutherland (Music Week), Polly James (Radio X), Sian Eleri Evans (BBC Radio Cymru/Folded Wing).
The 10th Welsh Music Prize is funded by Welsh Government through Creative Wales, with support from Help Musicians.
Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas said; “The Welsh Music Prize provides an excellent platform to showcase the very best of Welsh Music, and I’d like to congratulate Deyah for winning the prize while we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Welsh Music Prize.”
People can hear more from the Welsh Music Prize 2020 shortlisted artists with a new podcast series called Welsh Music Prize Conversations. The 15 episodes feature in-depth conversations with each of the artists about their nominated album, led by a uniquely matched contributor. The full series is released on Monday 23 November via AM, Apple Podcasts and Spotify and includes BBC presenter Bethan Elfyn speaking to Georgia Ruth, musician and producer Shawn Lee speaking to Colorama, and journalist and broadcaster Jude Rogers speaking to Gruff Rhys.
For more information about the Welsh Music Prize go to welshmusicprize.com or follow @welshmusicprize #WMP2020
