Why has Ed Sheeran been nominated for the Mercury?

As the 2017 shortlist for the Hyundai Mercury Prize is announced, we take a closer look at the nominees and generally have a grumble about Ed Sheeran.

Feature by Tallah Brash | 27 Jul 2017

The Hyundai Mercury Prize Albums of the Year shortlist, as selected by a judging panel including Ella Eyre, Marcus Mumford, Jamie Cullum, MistaJam and Jessie Ware, was unveiled this morning by BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens. And while it does include some of our favourite albums from the past 12 months from the likes of Kate Tempest, J Hus and Sampha, we can’t help but be a little disappointed that the list also includes Ed Sheeran’s Divide. Seriously, why is it on there?

Launched in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards (surely where the likes of Ed Sheeran belongs, if he has to win something), we can’t help but feel annoyed at how incredibly dull the full shortlist of albums is this year. 'But Spice Girls, Take That and Adele have all been nominated in the past', we hear you cry! Yes, yes, we know, but Ed Sheeran? Try as we might, we can't quite believe that he'll still be as relevant 20 years or so down the line... believe it or not, we still have a warm place in our hearts for Spice. Friendship lasts forever, after all.

Anyway, back to this year's award. The shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel who said: “This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the remarkable power of British music." But does it?! "What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refuse to be pinned down by genre conventions.” That's all well and good, but it doesn't really explain Big Ed's appearance on the list. Nothing could explain his appearance on this list. Why is he here? Seriously, we're stumped. 

At this moment in writing, word gets out around the office that – and we can't stress this enough – Ed Sheeran has been nominated for the Mercury. Here are some selected thoughts from around the room as the news broke; as you can see, it went down well.

“What the fuck is this? This is the death of the Mercury Prize.” – Rosamund West, Editor-in-Chief 
“Does that mean that within the space of a year we could potentially experience Brexit, Trump's inauguration and Ed Sheeran winning the Mercury? Does the rule of three mean THE CURSE WOULD FINALLY BE BROKEN? Maybe the Mercury could just take one for the team.” – Kate Pasola, Listings and Events Editor 
“I just think he’s not very good, or interesting.”Peter Simpson, Digital Editor
"He offends my country." – Sarah Donley, Production Manager (Irish)
"He makes me hate all pasty ginger men, and I'm pasty and ginger." – Jamie Dunn, Film Editor

While the list does take in a number of genres – R’n’B, grime, hip-hop, jazz, singer-songwriter, spoken word, indie and electronica are all in there – it sadly only features artists from England, a huge percentage of which are from London, so no Scottish (where are the SAY Award-winning Sacred Paws?), Welsh or Irish representation in an award which is meant to “celebrate the remarkable power of British music.” Is Ed Sheeran really all that remarkable? The answer is a resounding no. No, he isn't.

The full shortlist for the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize:

alt-j – Relaxer
Blossoms – Blossoms
Dinosaur – Together, As One
Ed Sheeran – Divide
Glass Animals – How to be a Human Being
J Hus – Common Sense
Kate Tempest – Let Them Eat Chaos
Loyle Carner – Yesterday’s Gone
Sampha – Process
Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer
The Big Moon – Love in the 4th Dimension
The xx – I See You

The 2017 Awards Show will take place on 14 Sep at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London.

http://theskinny.co.uk/music