CW: This article briefly mentions assault.
Born in London, Speech Debelle is a poet and rapper whose music weaves together social commentary, personal experiences and a unique perspective on the world. Her debut album, Speech Therapy, won the Mercury Prize in 2009 and established her as one of the UK's most exciting musical talents.
Her latest album, Sunday Dinner On A Monday, showcases her continued evolution as an artist. Black Ballad sat down with Speech Debelle to discuss the process of creating the album and her journey in music so far:
"The album was actually finished like a year and a half ago,” she revealed. “It was like a two-year process, but the quickest part was making it. That was six months, and then it was a year and a half of just figuring out how we're going to release it.”
Despite the extended timeline, Speech Debelle made the most of this time by continuing to release singles to keep the project alive, recognising that there is no such thing as a perfect song and that music has a life of its own.