Rapper Debelle favourite for Mercury Prize

The winner of this year’s Mercury Prize will be announced today with chart acts Kasabian, Glasvegas and Brit-winning Florence And The Machine among the acts battling it out for the prestigious award.

This year’s 12-strong shortlist is dominated by debut releases – seven out of 12 – including Speech Therapy by rapper Speech Debelle, whose lyrics were partly inspired by her experiences living in hostels as a teenager.