Streatham artist Dave in the running for four categories at the BRITs

By Adam Davidson, Local Democracy Reporter

South Londoners are heading to the BRITs this week to see if they will come out top in this years awards.

Rapper Dave leads the way after being nominated for four categories including album of the year and artist of the year.

This year’s awards have been made gender-neutral, with the male and female categories being merged into Best Artist. Dave is joined on the shortlist by Adele, Sam Fender, Ed Sheeran and Little Simz.

The Streatham-born rapper will be looking to win album of the year for the second time in three years with ‘We’re All Alone in This Together’ after ‘Psychodrama’ took the prize in 2020.

However, he faces stiff competition from Adele, who released the chart-topping ‘30’ last year.

Dave is also nominated for the newly-introduced Best Hip Hop/Rap/Grime category and Best Song for his collaboration with Croydon’s Stormzy, Clash.

Also representing South London in this year’s awards is Lambeth-born Joy Crookes who has been nominated for two awards after a breakout year for the artist.

Joy Crookes is on the shortlist for Best Artist where she is joined by Central Cee, Griff, Little Simz and Self Esteem. She will also be up for the Best Pop/R&B Act.

After news of her two nominations broke, Joy took to Twitter to celebrate.

She said: “2 nominations?!! I’m shocked but so so happy, this is a massive achievement for me and I’m so proud to be recognised.

I watched the #BRITs religiously and I’m proud to see someone like myself on these lists. It’s important for ALL of us to feel seen and heard. Thank you @BRITs.”

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the London O2 Arena hosted by Mo Gilligan on February 8 which will be live on ITV and streamed on YouTube.

Pictured: Dave performs after winning the Mercury Prize during the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2019, held at the Eventim Apollo, London.