2009. Speech Debelle, 'Speech Therapy'
Who was she? Corynne Elliot is a rapper from London who picked up the Prize for, yes, her debut album. The record was loved by critics, but is famous for being the lowest-selling album to ever scoop the award.
Was it an entirely outrageous choice? It was a good record. Whether we'll look back at 2009 and think of Debelle over Florence Welch though, is another thing. Kasabian, The Horrors and Friendly Fires all delivered their best albums that year too, and none of them would've been ludicrous winners, but 'Speech Therapy' was a champion in the same vein as Talvin Singh or Antony and the Johnsons; unique, if a little unpopular. Really should've been Florence and the Machine though.
What has she done since? Not a lot. Elliot quit her label after she felt they had failed to promote her album accordingly, and went on to sell just 10,000 copies of 'Speech Therapy' after her Mercury win. She has been involved in a lot of charity work though, performing at Damon Albarn's Africa Express gig and hosting a BBC documentary on homeless youths.