Songwriter of the year

My sister and I sat down and watched the Brits, as we do every year, looking forward to a night of award distribution, unplanned speeches, great performances, and crowning moments. As we watched the broadcast we enjoyed some of those things, but grew increasingly frustrated over the course of the night with the lack of crowning moments. I'll explain the beef.

Let's start with something that I think came a year too late: British Breakthrough Artist, awarded to Lola Young. She broke through with Messy, which dropped in 2024, and should have won Rising Star or Best New Act at the Brits 2025. That would have been a crowning moment. Instead, in a year where EssDeeKid's music was inescapable and Skye Newman came out of the gate with music that seemed to be in everyone's rotation, Lola wins the award a full two years after she first broke through.

Best Dance Act went to Fred Again, Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax. My issue with this is twofold. The first is that Fred and Skepta dropped a five-song EP consisting of one Grime track, one Bass track, two Dance tracks, and a song fusing all three. Nominees FKA Twigs, PinkPantheress (who won Producer of the Year at this same ceremony) and Sammy Virji all dropped full-length albums focused on dance music, which I feel merits the award more. Secondly, the award is credited to Fred, Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax, yet Max only features on one song from the EP, meaning this whole award effectively comes down to a single track: Victory Lap. There is already an award for Song of the Year, and Victory Lap was nominated for it. Genre awards shouldn't be handed out on the basis of one song.

Best Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap went to Dave. The Brits missed a huge opportunity here by not giving the award to Jim Legxacy. Jim has been leading a new wave of UK music since 2021, drawing influences from Grime, Drill, Rap, Trap, Indie and Dance to create a sound entirely his own within the UK Underground scene. That journey culminated in his album Black British Music, which has had a significant cultural impact. The Union Jack has been reclaimed by artists in the scene, Legxacy is selling out shows, and fans are building online trends around his song titles. Giving the award to Dave feels like defaulting to the status quo and ignoring just how large Legxacy and the UK Underground scene have become, particularly when you consider that EssDeeKid also walked away empty-handed.

The biggest crime of the night, though, was Songwriter of the Year going to Noel Gallagher. What songs did he write this year? None. This award was handed out because Oasis reformed and did a comeback tour, big whoop. They performed songs written thirty years ago that Oasis already won Brit Awards for at the time. So why are they picking up this award in 2026? Every songwriter currently doing the work has been snubbed so that an industry that can't let go of the nineties can give itself a pat on the back. The artists making music right now should take that as a sign of exactly how much the Brits value them.

One genuine highlight: Bez and Shaun Ryder, who were hilarious and, on reflection, probably the best thing about the whole night.

Reporting for SIBLING RADIO,

Bubbler B