Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Wayne 'Lotek' Bennett, the producer of Speech Debelle's Mercury Music Prize-winning debut album Speech Therapy, is a former winner of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Performing Arts Fund's Urban Music Talent Scheme.

The scheme (formerly known as the Urban Music Bursary) launched in 2005 and was designed to target the urban music community of talent. It helps talented self-starters with great ideas and motivation by providing some working capital, mentoring, advice, contacts and training in order to further their career in the industry.

The scheme awarded Wayne a bursary of Β£6,000 in 2005. At that time, he had already worked with Roots Manuva, amongst many other professionals, and was offering a valuable resource to the music community in Birmingham. The funding was used to purchase portable state-of-the-art recording equipment, which he would later use to record Speech Therapy.

Wayne and Speech Debelle were first introduced in 2007 at her agent's offices in South London, where they penned and recorded their first track – Searching.

Shortly after, Wayne received the call asking him to produce her debut album and the pair met up in Melbourne later that year, where they recorded most of what would become Speech Therapy.

Wayne says: "Being able to record on such a small, yet state-of-the-art, set-up meant I was able to capture her raw emotions in a much more candid way... there was no big sterile studio. It was recorded in kitchens and spare rooms. I think this had a big impact on the sound of the album.

"I would not have been able to produce the album in the manner we did without the Performing Arts Fund."

Sarah Scott, Project Co-ordinator for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Performing Arts Fund, adds: "We are so proud that Speech Therapy is an album we directly contributed to. We are thrilled with Lotek's success and really excited for his future. It's really wonderful to be able to directly, and quickly, impact the lives of talented young musicians."

To find out more about the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Performing Arts Fund please go to bbc.co.uk/performingartsfund.

KT