Nova becomes youngest ever winner of the Scottish Album of the Year Award

Nova's Re-Up made the (SAY) Award shortlist earlier this month alongside Blanck Mass, Cloth, Declan Welsh & The Decadent West, Erland Cooper, The Ninth Wave and more.

The rapper was announced as the 2020 (SAY) Award winnner last night (29 October). Nova’s manager Sof Staune (VAJ Power) accepted the award and the £20,000 prize money on Nova's behalf as Nova could only attend the ceremony virtually after testing positive for COVID-19.

Edinburgh-based Nova, aged 25, is the youngest recipient of the (SAY) Award over its nine-year history. She also made history by becoming the first rap/grime artist to win the awrd.

The winner of the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award 2020 is @novascotiatruth for ‘Re-Up’.

Congratulations Nova who is the youngest artist to ever win the #SAYaward pic.twitter.com/9Jh1BLpX8X

— The SAY Award (@SAYaward) October 29, 2020

Nova said of her win, "It is such an incredible feeling to have won the 2020 Scottish Album of the Year Award, just a couple of weeks shy of my 25th birthday! It is so affirming - any doubts that I might have had previously are now out of the window and I’m seriously so excited for the future. I’m excited to keep on this upwards trajectory, thrilled to encounter new experiences and take my professionalism to the next level. To think that my manager and I had no idea where we would end up when we started working together and now to have made it here is just fantastic!"

She added, "It hasn’t always been easy - there have been a lot of late nights, night buses and moments of uncertainty, to name a few challenges, but winning this award has solidified my belief that hard work and determination bring results. So don’t call me lucky because I worked my butt off to move forward - and you can too. There is so much possibility in the air and I feel so free, nurturing old bonds and making new ones is what I can see on the horizon. I’ve already begun working on my next project and I cannot wait to see how THAT is received. I’m sending much love and blessings to everyone who made this possible."

General Manager of the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), Robert Kilpatrick said of Nova's win, "Re-Up is Nova’s debut body of work. Poignant social commentary and unfiltered truth is set against the backdrop of bassy trap, lo-fi hip hop and heavy grime, resulting in a record which is well crafted, authentic and necessary. The fact it was delivered with the support of a range of local producers from across Scotland only goes to show the passion, strength and innovation of Scotland’s growing hip-hop/rap/grime scene, which I’m delighted that The SAY Award is shining a bright and well-deserved spotlight on through Nova’s win."