Little Simz and Dave among winners at Ivor Novello Awards 2020

Little Simz and Dave are among the winners at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards.

The winners of Ivor Novello Awards’ 65th edition were announced today (2nd September) via Apple Music. Originally scheduled to take place in May, the awards were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and announced online in place of a conventional ceremony. 

Little Simz won the Best Album awards with her 2019 breakthrough LP, ‘Grey Area’. The visionary North London MC, who we interviewed last year, came out on top in the category above Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ‘Ghosteen’ and Kae Tempest’s ‘The Book of Traps and Lessons’.

London MC Dave, who took home the best MC/vocalist award at DJ Mag’s Best Of British awards last year, won the Ivor Novello for Best Contemporary Song with ‘Black’, taken from his 2019 album ‘Psychodrama’. The track was co-written with producer and songwriter Fraser T Smith. He was up against Kae Tempest’s ‘Firesmoke’ and J Hus’ ‘Must Be’ in the category. 

In a video statement shared on Twitter, Little Simz said: “So excited. So over the moon for this. So humbled. So blessed… I want to say thank you to the Ivors Academy for recognising and I guess blessing me with this prestigious award. I’ve been saying that this is, I guess, the one that’s probably the most important because it’s about the songwriting and it’s about the skill of the pen. I’m just super, super grateful to have been recognised.” 

“It’s so mad to think that you can make something from a negative or down space in life and it can bring so much light and positivity,” she added. 

Dave, who won in the same category last year for his track ‘Question Time’, also shared a recorded message about this year’s win, saying. “The song means a lot to me, especially in recent times. So to have ‘Black’ nominated and to win a second Ivor Novello is honestly the honour of a lifetime.”

You can see the full list of winners for this year’s Ivor Novello Awards here.

Dave will feature in a one-off musical special of nature series Planet Earth on 31st August, having contributed piano to the series which also features Hans Zimmer, the BBC concert orchestra and, of course, David Attenburough.