When the Mercury Prize shortlist was announced last week, we had a little moan about how Rina Sawayama’s debut album, ‘Sawayama’, wasn’t included.
So did quite a lot of people, actually. Including Elton John. It turns out this wasn’t just a bizarre snub, the award’s organisers had deemed her not to be British enough to enter at all.The Mercury Prize puts together a shortlist based on what the judges deem to be the twelve best albums released by British and Irish acts in the last year.
As part of the applications process, artists must submit proof of their citizenship. Despite living almost her entire life in England, having moved here from Japan as a toddler, Sawayama only holds ‘indefinite leave to remain’ status in the UK.
Read more on completemusicupdate.com