Formerly known as the Critics’ Choice Award, 20-year-old artist Griff has been announced as the winner of the Rising Star Award 2021.
The award – previously won by the likes of Adele, Florence + the Machine, Jorja Smith and Jessie J since its conception in 2008 – is open to artists who are yet to have a Top 20 single or album before 28th February 2021.
The 2021 nominees were Griff, Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama. Sawayama’s nomination was particularly special due to her 2020 campaign to change the eligibility rules for the Brits and the Mercury Prize. Empoword Journalism takes a look at this year’s nominees.
THE WINNER – Griff
Griff, whose real name is Sarah Griffiths, is a pop artist from Hertfordshire. Just two weeks after finishing her A Levels in 2019, Griff signed her record deal with Warner Music and released her first single “Mirror Talk”.
Griff, who described her Brit win as a “miracle”, says the major influences for her music include Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift’s album Fearless. You may recognise her voice from Disney’s Christmas advert last year, which featured a track recorded by Griff.
https://twitter.com/wiffygriffy/status/1369909723777150978
Pa Salieu
Pa Salieu Gaye, who was born in Slough and spent a lot of his childhood in Gambia, now lives with his grandparents in Coventry. Pa Salieu has already won BBC’s Sound of 2021 award this year with his single ‘Energy’ doing well on radio stations.
Unafraid to dabble in multiple styles, Pa Salieu says he doesn’t “do genres”. One signature sound, however, is the incorporation of hand-drummed sounds from his Gambian heritage into his music.
https://twitter.com/KING_SALIEU/status/1369909705850687497
Rina Sawayama
Rina Sawayama was born in Japan but has lived in London since she was five years old when her parents relocated. Her debut album SAWAYAMA received critical acclaim and was placed at number three in The Guardian’s Top 50 Albums of 2020.
The album was praised for its Y2K influence and emotive narrative, tackling issues such as racial fetishization, parental divorce and finding queer acceptance. In the lead single, “STFU!”, Rina “summons [the] aggression” of Korn and her much-revered nu-metal influences and directs it at the seemingly infinite number of casual racists she meets whilst dating.
Following the success of the #SAWAYAMAISBRITISH campaign, Sawayama said “[she] literally fell on the floor when [she] found out” about the nomination.
https://twitter.com/rinasawayama/status/1369918643262357505
#SAWAYAMAISBRITISH
In July 2020, Rina Sawayama was told she was ineligible for The Brit Awards and Mercury Price as, despite living in the UK since she was five and having indefinite leave to remain, she does not have a British passport.
Sawayama said it was “heartbreaking” and “othering” to be denied entry to the nominations. She noted that such limits to entrants turn the arts awards into “their own sort of version of border control”.
Adding to the conversation on Twitter, Rina said, “I’ve lived here 25 YEARS (most of my life) but I am not British enough.”
Outrage regarding these rules and solidarity with Sawayama and all other artists affected led to the #SAWAYAMAISBRITISH campaign. The campaign included a petition which demanded The Brit Awards and Mercury Prize change their rules. It argued that, “regardless of whether or not they hold a British passport”, Sawayama and other immigrants undoubtedly contribute to “the UK culture and economy”.
With Sawayama and her label Dirty Hit leading the way and fans propelling the #SAWAYAMAISBRITISH hashtag to trending on Twitter, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) had no choice but to listen up.
The new rules state that an artist will be eligible for a Brit Award or The Mercury Prize if they have resided in the UK for five years or more.
Reflecting on the change, Rina said, “This is the UK I know, and the UK I grew up with – one of acceptance and diversity.” Sawayama says it is “the proudest moment of her career”.
Nia Thomas
Featured image courtesy of Uwe Conrad via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to the image.
Nia Thomas
Nia is a Gender Studies Masters student at the University of Sussex. Having recently graduated with a degree in Political Science, she is keenly interested in current affairs and stories concerning equality and diversity. Away from writing, she is an avid reader and lover of reality TV.