London (AFP)

Rapper Dave grabbed the coveted "Best British Album" award of the year Tuesday night at the 40th annual Brit Awards, and he did not fail to pin the Prime Minister whom he called " true racist ".

The British pop music awards also honored the American singer Billie Eilish, best international female artist.

With his album "Psychodrama", the rapper from the London district of Brixton topped the post the others named in this category, including the Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi, the ex-One Direction Harry Styles, the rapper Stormzy and the singer Michael Kiwanuka.

Sober piano on an entirely black stage, luminous arches in neon and evocative projections in black and white: it is in a performance with neat scenography that the singer had interpreted earlier in the evening "Black", one of the flagship titles - and strong- of "Psychodrama", raising a standing ovation.

And he added new verses to his song. "It's racist, whether or not you feel it's racist / The truth is that our Prime Minister is a real racist," he reminded Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In the same vein, he also attacked the British press by denouncing the treatment of Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, compared to Kate, Prince William's wife.

"Now if you don't want to understand him, you will never understand him / How the news treats Kate versus how they treat Meghan," he said.

The rapper had already won the prestigious Mercury Prize last September for this album, which explores black identity and denounces institutionalized racism.

He competed with the same four singers for the category "best male artist", which this time was won by rapper Stormzy. He himself delivered an explosive performance during the evening, in a medley involving rain, firecrackers and more than fifty people on stage.

Scotsman Lewis Capaldi is the only singer to have been awarded twice at the O2 Arena in London, earning the title of New Artist of the Year and Best Song of the Year, for "Someone You Loved" .

No controversy around a supposedly racist selection, with this year more black than white artists presented in the categories "best album" and "best male artist of the year".

But the nominations had this time very masculine accents, no woman appearing in the mixed categories of best album or best group, which was won by the rockers of Foals, with the nose and the beard of Coldplay.

- "Her name is Eilish. Billie Eilish" -

However, the biggest expectation of the evening revolved well, she, around a young woman.

"The name is Eilish. Billie Eilish": the American singer, crowned this year at the Grammy Awards at only 18 years old, interpreted for the very first time her new title, "No time to die", official theme of the next installment of adventures by James Bond.

The one who presented Dave with her award herself won the Brit Award for the best international female artist, paying a vibrant tribute to her competitors Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello and Lana del Rey in an acclaimed speech.

On the British side, it was the young voice of RnB Mabel, 23-year-old Hispanic-British, who was awarded the title of best female artist of the year.

The British music industry represented a market of 4.5 billion pounds (5.1 billion euros) in the United Kingdom in 2015, according to a report published in 2018 by the public body UK Music. British artists account for an eighth of album sales worldwide, according to figures from BPI, which represents the British music industry.

© 2020 AFP