Mercury nominees 2014: Young Fathers

Who? Experimental trio from Edinburgh whose music generates a meltdown from critics who try to describe their colossal genre-straddling. The NME said they were “locked somewhere between De La Soul and 3T, but reimagined for the hipster generation”, while the Skinny described them as a “Liberian/Nigerian/Scottish psychedelic hip-hop electro boy band”. Young Fathers are lloysious Massaquoi, born in Liberia, Kayus Bankole, whose parents are Nigerian migrants, and Graham “G” Hastings, who hails from Edinburgh’s Drylaw housing estate. They met at an under-16s hip-hop event in Edinburgh. After an attempt as an R&B boy band during their younger years – we’ve all been there – they formed Young Fathers, making military marching anthems that combine hip-hop, pop, rock and African music, as well as all sorts of bleeps, fuzz and melodies.

The album: Dead

Previous releases to date: Tape One – 2011; Tape Two – 2013

What we said: “The artists Young Fathers most obviously recall are Massive Attack. The comparison isn’t so much a sonic one, although there’s vague hint of Blue Lines about the half-whispered vocals of Just Another Bullet, and Hangman’s increasingly clammy, claustrophobic atmosphere is the kind of mood that Tricky might have conjured into existence on Maxinquaye, albeit by a different method. It’s more the sense that, like Massive Attack 25 years ago, Young Fathers have quietly constructed a strange and intoxicating musical universe that feels entirely their own, while no one else was paying attention.”

What they said: “Where I grew up, people never expressed themselves. So when I met everyone here and they were all dancing. I wasnae used to it! I would dance on my own listening to records in my bedroom but dancing in public was a real breakthrough moment in my life. I knew this was my way out from having to wear certain clothes and talk in a certain way.” – Bankole

Notable Mercury-friendly accolades: Their story is one big Mercury-friendly accolade, with just the right amount of struggle (shedding their boy-band guise, a former album that got ditched) and a dose of triumph against adversity (forming an experimental rap group in Edinburgh).

Likelihood to win: Bookies reckon they’re at 12/1 to win, although if comparisons to Massive Attack are to be believed, they might not be so fortunate. (Despite being nominated, Gomez’s Bring It On beat them to it in 1998). As Simon Frith, the award’s chair of judges, commented after the shortlist was announced: “What most impressed the judges was the inventive passion with which musicians explore music and emotional possibilities, refusing to be pinned down by rules or genre.” If that’s what the panel are after, Young Fathers certainly fit the bill.

Stream the album: