Kano’s backing fellow nominee Skepta at the Mercury Prize 2016

With the Mercury Prize ceremony kicking off later this evening, proceedings are already in full swing, and shortlisted nominee Kano stopped by for a chat on the event’s blue carpet. And no, we’re not sure why the carpet’s blue, either.

Given the Mercury nod for his own album ‘Made in the Manor,’ Kano was quick to give another nod of his own, in the direction of grime MC Skepta.

“It means a hell of a lot to be amongst a lot of the other people that’ve been nominated today,” Kano told reporters, “but someone like him [Skepta] has achieved so much, and done so much for music, period. Everyone else can only aspire to do half as much as he has.”

We’ll be at the Mercury Prize all evening bringing you all the goss. Follow the action on Twitter.

Listen to ‘This is England,’ from Kano’s Mercury nominated album ‘Made in the Manor’ below.