| Speech Debelle | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 (age 26) |
| Origin | London, England,  United Kingdom |
| Genres | Rap, Hip Hop |
| Occupations | Singer–songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Website | speechdebelle.com |
Corynne Elliot (born 1983, London, England), better known as Speech Debelle,[1] is a British rapper formerly signed to the Big Dada record label.[2][3] She was the winner of the 2009 Mercury Prize.[4]
Contents |
Early days
Debelle had a comfortable middle-class upbringing, describing herself as being a "spoilt brat" as a child.[2] Her father walked out on the family when she was six years old, and she was brought up by her mother.[5] She attended Harris City Academy, and was frequently suspended from school, leaving with no qualifications.[1][5] She began writing poetry aged nine, and started rapping lyrics at school at the age of 13. Back then, initial inspiration came courtesy of Michael Jackson, which quickly turned to Blackstreet, Mary J. Blige, TLC and reggae music.[3] She left home age 19 after a falling-out with her mother and lived in homeless hostels for four years.[1][2] However she states that "It's overstating it to say I was homeless - I stayed at friends' houses as well as hostels and kept in touch with my mum."[5] She returned to her mother's house age 23 and began calling record labels, eventually being signed by Big Dada records.[5]
Speech Therapy (2009)
Debelle's debut album, Speech Therapy, was released in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2009. The album has had three singles released, "Searching", "The Key", and "Go Then, Bye". In 2009, she performed at the Glastonbury Festival.[6] On 21 July 2009 Speech Therapy was announced as one of the shortlisted twelve albums for the year's Mercury Prize award.[7]
She won the 2009 Mercury Music Award with Speech Therapy beating albums from Sweet Billy Pilgrim, The Horrors, Florence and the Machine, Kasabian and Friendly Fires, among other artists.[4]
Latter Days
Despite the Mercury Prize win, sales of Speech Therapy were disappointing, with the album failing to make the top 40 and only 10,000 units sold by November 2009, in comparison to the 300,000 sales of the 2008 winner, Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid.[8][9] Debelle quit the Big Dada record label in November 2009, blaming them for failing to adequately market and distribute the album.[10] Her post-Mercury music gigs were sparsely attended and received mixed to poor reviews. [9][11]
Her planned US performance debut, on November 5th 2009 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, had to be called off due to visa problems.[12] Later that month she was booed off the stage at a Take That event to promote their SingStar game, after attempting to rap to their 1993 hit Pray.[13][14]
Future Releases
Speech Debelle announced on her facebook page on 16 October that she had begun writing new material for her next album, called 'The Art Of Speech'.
References
- ^ a b c Speech Debelle: homeless to Mercury nomination The Times, 26 July 2009
- ^ a b c Oboe'n'bass: Dispatches from hostel territory. Rob Fitzpatrick meets Speech Debelle The Guardian
- ^ a b Introducing Speech Debelle BBC News
- ^ a b Speech Debelle Is Surprise Winner of U.K.’s Mercury Music Prize Bloomberg, 8 September 2009
- ^ a b c d Exclusive interview: Speech Debelle The Mirror 10 September 2009
- ^ Glastonbury Interview The Telegraph
- ^ http://www.clashmusic.com/news/mercury-music-prize-nominations
- ^ Speech Debelle ditches record label over poor sales The Guardian
- ^ a b Mercury Winner Speech Debelle Loses Record Deal The Sun
- ^ BBC News Mercury winner Debelle quits label over poor sales BBC News
- ^ Has winning the Mercury prize caused Speech Debelle's career to stutter? The Guardian
- ^ Budding British talent hits Brooklyn The Independent
- ^ Debelle booed for Take That rap Press Association
- ^ Speech Debelle booed by Take That fansBBC News
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