Mercury Prize 2014: Young Fathers defy the odds to win

Hip hop trio Young Fathers lastnight won one of UK music’s most prestigious awards as they collected the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for their album Dead.

The Edinburgh-based act were little fancied for the award and beat acts like hot favourite FKA Twigs and Damon Albarn to the £20,000 prize.

In a brief acceptance speech, the group’s Alloysious Massaquoi said simply: “Thank you, we love you, we love you all.”

The group had been just 14-1 to collect the prize at a ceremony at the Roundhouse venue in north London, hosted by Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw.

It was an under-16s hip hop night which set them on the road to winning the Mercury Prize.

Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham “G” Hastings met at the event in Edinburgh and their shared love of the genre would see them create their own “psychedelic hip hop boy band” to critical acclaim.

Massaquoi, who was born in Liberia, Bankole, whose parents are Nigerian migrants, and Hastings, who hails from Edinburgh’s Drylaw housing estate, formed Young Fathers in 2008.

Their first album, Inconceivable Child ... Conceived, was well received, with the NME dubbing the band “locked somewhere between De La Soul and 3T, but re-imagined for the hipster generation.”

They spent the next three years touring the UK and Europe, during which time they released the single Automatic and performed at T in the Park, Creamfields, and Wakestock, as well as being the main support act on tours with Esser and Simian Mobile Disco.

By the end of 2011, Young Fathers released Tape One as a free download and Time Out magazine put the group in their top 10 best new acts to watch out for in 2012.

The group continued to perform over the next two years and gained support from BBC Radio 1 DJs Vic Galloway, Ally McCrae and Huw Stephens before their album, Dead, was released to critical acclaim in February this year.

Having seen saw their sales soar by 31 per cent after being added to the Mercury Prize shortlist, Young Fathers are set for a further boost after beating bookies’ favourites FKA Twigs and Kate Tempest to the award.

PA