Music Awards
Rina Sawayama Reveals Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards Nationality Requirements Have Changed
Last July, Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama revealed she was ineligible to win a Mercury Prize or BRIT Award for her critically acclaimed album, SAWAYAMA, due to an archaic nationality requirement. She’d lived in the UK since she was a toddler, but because she lacked a British passport, she wasn’t up for awards consideration. Today, our former Artist of the Month revealed the eligibility rules have changed. “I’m over the moon to share the news that following a number of conversations the BPI [British Phonographic Industry] has decided to change the rules of eligibility for all nominees for the BRIT awards and Mercury Prize,” she wrote on Twitter. “Starting this year, artists (like me) will be eligible for nomination even without British citizenship. The rules have broadened to include...
Rina Sawayama Ineligible For Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards Due To “Problematic” Nationality Requirement
Back in April, the Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama released her debut album SAWAYAMA. The record immediately garnered widespread praise; Consequence of Sound named it one of 2020’s best release so far, while review aggregator site Metacritic places SAWAYAMA as the top British album of the year. Despite these accolades, the artist is ineligible to win a Mercury Prize or BRIT Award — and it’s all because of an archaic nationality requirement. In a new interview with VICE, the 29-year-old Sawayama explained that despite having lived in London since she was a toddler, the Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards don’t consider her legally British because she lacks a British passport. “I rarely get upset to the level where I cry,” our former Artist of the Month said. “And I cried.” Sawayama h...
