'I could have done with a couple more years in the business before getting this," said Niomi McClean-Daley, aka Ms Dynamite, as she picked up her Mercury Prize on Tuesday.
At just 21, it's easy to see why the singer and MC might feel glory has come too soon. But, if the previous winners of the £20,000 award - the most prestigious in British music - are anything to go by, she may end up wishing she had never won it at all.
Over its 11 years, the prize has shown an unnerving tendency to derail even the most promising careers. From the off, the omens were not ideal.
First winners, Glasgow misanthropes Primal Scream, went on a celebration bender and lost the cheque that they had received for their hugely popular 1992 album Screamadelica. Despite some impressive live work, the band have never produced a comparable recording.
David Bowie copyists Suede burnt briefly and brightly in 1993. But, once the Mercury came calling, it was all downhill, singer Brett Anderson falling prey to drug problems and a fringe that he never really got to grips with.
Dummy, 1995's winning album by West Country trip hop visionaries Portishead, is by some distance the best work ever to win the Mercury. Their follow-up sank like a patio slab in the Avon.
Last year's prize went for the first time to a woman, singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. She is very much a niche artist and already had - by pop standards - a long career behind her before she was chosen. Her career path has so far carried on unscathed.
But, for Roni Size Reprazent (1997), Gomez (1998, who the hell were they?) and Talvin Singh (1999), the day the Mercury panel drew their name out of the hat is one they would surely rather forget.
Ms Dynamite now becomes the most famous person to emerge from the grimy north London district of Archway since Rod Stewart in 1969. A Little Deeper, her outstanding debut album, is notable not just for its variety, gutsiness and catchy tunes, but also for the singer's mature and eloquent lyrics.
Ms Dynamite clearly has her head screwed on - and, by all accounts, a place at Sussex University as a fall-back. If the curse of the Mercury is still alive and well, she might be advised to give the admissions department a call.
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