Mercury Music Prize: Your views

Ms Dynamite has won the Mercury Music Prize for her debut album A Little Deeper, becoming the first solo black artist to win the award.

The 21-year-old north Londoner was speechless as she accepted her £20,000 prize, though she later gathered herself to say she would be choosing a charity to donate the money to.

The garage singer and MC has been acclaimed for her chart singles Dy-na-mi-tee and It Takes More.

Has the right artist walked off with the prize? Was it really the album of the year? Did Ms Dynamite deserve to beat favourites The Streets and The Coral and should David Bowie have been ignored? Send us your views.

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This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

When I first heard Ms.Dynamite's It Takes More, I must admit that I had dismissed it as another r&b/Garage single, but not only did the tune grow on me, but a listen to the lyrics shows how she's against what other r&b acts seem to revolve their lives around. Her tracks are consciously aware of social issues, and subvert our expectations of the type of girl she is, an intelligent woman with a bright future.
Ste, UK

Ms Dynamite deserves credit for her originality

Ash, UK

Personally I'm glad Ms Dynamite won she deserves some credit for her originality. Multi-talented and gorgeous to boot, she has a life long fan here.
Ash, UK

Whilst I think Miss Dynamite's album is good, it is a little patchy. The Streets album is a belter from start to finish, with insightful lyrics and genuinely innovative music arrangements. It's criminal that he didn't pick up the award.
Phil Christopher, England

This is what I love about the Mercury Prize, it gets people arguing about music and who should have won. You never see that about the Brits, do you? It seems the judging panel always go out of their way to pick as eclectic a set of nominees as they can, and good on them as the Brits are always so dull and corporate.
Neil, England

I resent those who see Ms Dynamite as "just another rap act". She deservedly won, and it shows the world that there is more to British music than mediocre, unimaginative guitar bands.
Patrick, Scotland

The Coral album is probably one of the best I have heard in my life. The secret track at the end is amazing!!!
Ringo, UK

Ms Dynamite can hardly be said to be pushing the boundaries of UK music

Gareth, UK

The Streets should have won it. Their sound is a complete breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale UK music scene. It dares to be different, to go where no one else will, or can. Ms Dynamite, whilst listenable, can hardly be said to be pushing the boundaries of UK music.
Gareth, UK

Black artists have always been at the cutting edge of music. Ms Dynamite is no exception. Don't mistake her for the 100's of other bland r&b acts out there
S K, UK, Colchester

I think the win for Ms Dynamite is a breath of fresh air. It reflects the rise of intelligent urban music from the macho roots of rap and r&b. The lyrics to the track "It Takes More" are as punk rock as it gets. She has broken out of the ghetto mentality and she is anything but bland. I mean, when was the last time any of these so called 'indie' bands had anything interesting to say.
Martin Bowen, Wales

Just what is Ms Dynamite doing, that umpteen other garage/R&B acts aren't? The Coral, I thought were a breath of fresh air, and probably deserved it. Not impressed.
William Studholme, UK

If the album wasn't good, it wouldn't have been nominated in the first place. And if she wasn't talented then she wouldn't be nominated for six Mobos as well.
Stacey Walton, England, london

Just another clone of an American rap act

Fred, England

More proof that the British music scene is dead in the water. Just another clone of an American rap act. After all, rap is such an original form of music after all these years, isn't it?
Fred, England

I think its great cos I won £80 by betting on the young Miss. Never heard the album though.
Leigh, UK

Who cares? The Mercury Prize has never had any credibility. Like most award ceremonies, the judgement is made by self-appointed industry experts setting themselves up as arbitrers of public taste. The only opinion that matters is your own. Ms Dynamite? Rather have Big Audio Dynamite myself...
Donny, Chile, Chile

Anybody who doesn't think the Coral should have won must be totally oblivious to any kind of quality music. I would have accepted the bees winning but not Ms Dynamite. Please get some honest judges who will talk about and vote for the quality of the music rather than take a pay off from record companies.
Geoff, UK

Well done, Ms Dynamite!

Matthew, Australia

Well done, Ms Dynamite! It's fantastic that she has won this prize and we should stop trying to analyse everything and just be happy for her. There can only be one winner, and there were several quality acts on the shortlist. As far as I'm concerned, the best person won.
Matthew, Australia

The previous winners have all been artists who have written and produced music with dynamics, arranagements and a strong musical pedigree in their back pocket. This appears to fly against all of that with bland arrangements, structure and no dynamics at all.
Tim, UK

Obviously down to political correctness, which is a shame, the Mercury prize has now lost all credibility.
Andrew Davies, Australia (UK)

Why is it, Andrew Davies, that whenever people of colour win an award, the term "political correctness" is mentioned (as was the case with this year's Oscars)?
Susan, England

What's this nonsense about political correctness? Is that what's going to be shouted everytime a black person wins the award? Good on Ms Dynamite, for me it was her or Roots Manuva. I'm so glad The Streets never won, what's so original about a man talking nonsense over hip-hop beats with a cockney accent? Linton Kwesi Johnson has been rhyming to dub for decades.
Sharon, England

A richly deserved award and a good list of nominees. If Ms Dynamite was an American artist she would be as lauded as Lauryn Hill (was), Alicia Keys or Mary J Blige. She is a great artist who manages to jump back across ragga, reggae, soul, r'n'b and hip hop to create an accessible sound all of her own!
JOkda, UK

Blandness triumphs in the face of innovation

David, Sweden

Blandness triumphs in the face of innovation once again. Ms Dynamite's win is akin to M People winning the award in the early 90s.
David, Sweden

Some people here have obviously not listened to Ms Dynamite's music - she is an intelligent and articulate lyricist, easily comparable with Lauryn Hill (but politically clearer about what she believes in) and she writes great songs. She certanly does not deserve to be compared detrimentally to the likes of M People and at least she has a good social/political message, not the sort of claptrap Bowie has always come out with.
Steve, UK

Mercury awards what are they? And who is Ms Dynamite?
Nick S, UK

This year's batch of Mercury Music Prize nominees was something of a joke - The Coral, anyone? However, Ms Dynamite's win must surely leave the reputation one of the few music awards with any prestige left in complete tatters. Could David Bowie, who has made an excellent return to form in Heathen win? No, that would be just too sensible. It seems that this year's winner has been chosen on the strength of sales (hardly a good indication given the state of today's charts) rather than on any degree of real talent. We can only hope Ms Dynamite goes the way of previous Mercury winners such as Gomez to quickly disappear back into the obscurity she truly deserves.
Rich, UK

There's more to UK music than miserable indie and white blokes

Caroline, UK

So, David Bowie should have won should he? Another safe, white, male, accepted by the establishment. All the nominated albums deserved to be there, but congratulations to Ms Dynamite and the judges for showing that there's more to UK music than miserable indie and white blokes patting each other on the back. Next stop, NME!
Caroline, UK