Young Fathers win The SAY Award 2018

This year’s Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award shortlist was brimming with fine albums, but at last night's ceremony at Paisley Town Hall it was Edinburgh three-piece Young Fathers who walked off with the coveted title for their electric third full-length album Cocoa Sugar. The win makes them the first band to win the SAY Award twice; ironically, they won in 2014 for their second EP/mixtape Tape Two.

“We want to thank everyone who voted, it’s fantastic for Scotland and diversity in music,” said band member Alloysious Massaquoi. “This is a total surprise and an honour for us to win it twice and make history. We are obviously a multi-racial group who stand for openness, kindness, and love.”

Massaquoi met bandmates Kayus Bankole and Graham ‘G’ Hastings as teenagers at a hip-hop club night and formed Young Fathers in 2008. They debuted Cocoa Sugar in March 2018. When we spoke to the band on the eve of the release, Massaquoi said of the album that “a lot has been stripped back, to get to the essence of the group. It creates more space, so that you can breathe in a track. You know like when you watch movies? It feels like I can swim in it, it’s really airy.”

In The Skinny’s ecstatic five-star review of Cocoa Sugar, we said: “As always, it’s a mystery how Young Fathers pull it off. Cocoa Sugar slaps sugary boy band choruses against tongue-twister rap, via surreal imagery borrowed from the Bible and a sprinkling of the kind of idioms your nan might use. It’s a potent mix, and their best album yet”

Alan Morrison, Head of Music at Creative Scotland, said: “This second victory for Young Fathers is so well deserved for a band who have gone from strength to strength since they first stormed the SAY Award stage in 2014. It’s their most accessible release yet, with pop hooks and soulful vocals emerging from their trademark monsoon of global beats. Congratulations also to all the nominees who made this such a bold and diverse year for Scottish music.” Congrats to Young Fathers indeed!