Irish rapper Denise Chaila has been announced as the winner of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Album of the Year 2020. A panel of industry experts gave Denise the award for her debut album Go Bravely, which came out in October of 2020. When the news first came out yesterday, Denise simply tweeted; “No way.”
Taking to Instagram to announce the news at length, Denise said; “So I will tag people later and make an official post but GUYS I am not fine. I’m ecstatic. I’m harassing my mom at work and crying a lot. We won. The Choice. Oh. My goodness.”
The show is usually held live at Vicar Street in Dublin, the announcement was made on Thursday afternoon, the 4th of March on RTÉ 2FM by Tracy Clifford and U2’s Adam Clayton. There were also pre-recorded performances by the acts which were shown on the RTÉ Player. Denise will receive €10,000 for her winnings, provided by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA).
Other albums that were nominated include Fontaines D.C’s A Hero’s Death, Róisín Murphy’s Róisín Machine, Pillow Queen’s In Waiting, Ailbhe Reddy’s In Waiting, Bitch Falcon’s Staring at Clocks, JyellowL’s 2020 DIvision, Nealo’s All The Leaves Are Falling, Niamh Regan’s Hemet and Silverbacks’ Fad.
Huge congratulations to Denise Chaila on winning #RTEChoicePrize Album of the Year for her debut ‘Go Bravely’. An incredible album and a deserving winner. pic.twitter.com/QWkRoHuxtR
— RTÉ Choice Music (@choiceprize) March 4, 2021
In other news with Denise, she released her new single today Water with Narolane artists God Knows and MuRli. The song features a perfect blend of the three artists musical flare and a perfect joint first single for the group.
Taking to Instagram to announce the news, Denise said; “It feels like it’s been 700 years since I last came to you with an offering, and I’m sweetly giddy about the prospect of making space for this next… moment. I have nothing clever or even particularly poetic to say. I’m just smiling to myself about the fact that ‘Water’ was my first word, and I get to read something symbolic in that if I want to. Which I absolutely will.”
Denise Chaila has been all over the Irish music scene over the last year, Go Bravely, her debut mixtape, came out in October and included songs such as Chaila, Holy Grail and Down. Along with her RTÉ win, Denise was also announced this year as Ireland’s highest-charting female soloist this year. She also has Hot Press’ Top Track of the year and performed on The Late Late Show in September, Perspectives: Imagining Ireland. Speaking Up, Singing Louder in National Concert Hall, Dublin in February and Other Voices: Courage, in May 2020.
Water is out now on all platforms
