Michael Samuel Kiwanuka (London, 3 May 1987) is an English soul singer. On 6 January 2012 he won the Sound of... , an annual BBC competition that lists the most exciting artists of the future. No well-known names are allowed to participate in the contest.
Part of Michael Kiwanuka's roots lie in Uganda, from where his parents had to flee before his birth. After studying, Kiwanuka's musical career takes off: he supports Adele on tour and eventually signs with a label in 2011, from which his debut album Home Again is released in 2012. The success of the singles ‘Home Again’ and ‘Tell Me A Tale’ led to comparisons with Bill Withers and Otis Redding.
In 2016 Michael Kiwanuka released his album Love & Hate. With this album, Michael Kiwanuka steps out of his comfort zone. The first single from the album is ‘Black Man In A White World’. Together with British producer Inflo and Brian Joseph Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, Kiwanuka created a mix of gospel, soul, blues and psychedelia. The song 'Black Man In A White World' is inspired by American blues singer Son House and deals with unrest, racial hatred and the search for one's own identity.
Sunday Morning Classic: Love & Hate
On 13 June 2021, Michael was our Sunday Morning Classic with the album Love & Hate.
Kiwanuka addresses issues such as identity and racism, themes that are naturally particularly relevant both in the UK and the States. Black Man In A White World is a funk track referencing James Brown, sung by a singer who mainly made soul, R&B and clever pop his trademark. The new Love & Hate illustrates that Michael is now a grown man, someone capable of sharing life wisdom. No expense was spared to make this new album by the golden-voiced singer with Ugandan roots truly something special. The first track Cold Little Heart is immediately a particularly powerful piece that demands ten minutes of your time but gives back an incredible amount in return.
However, Love & Hate is mainly about finding your own voice in the world and the sometimes thin line between love and hate. At the same time, it is also about creative progress: not only has the songwriter become a very different person in the meantime, but his music has clearly undergone a great evolution. Thus, his new album Love And Hate almost becomes a modern soul classic based on the same ingredients (including handclaps, orchestra, backing choir) that heroes like Otis Redding, Al Green and Curtis Mayfield used earlier.
The big difference with the debut album lies in the leap towards maturity. You can hear it already in the album title, but this growth is also expressed in the songs themselves. Kiwanuka tries to break down boxes and sometimes runs into walls (e.g. Falling and Rule The World). Yet he never loses courage and remains optimistic, even in a world that sometimes makes him feel heavy-hearted (One More Night). This new album, ten tracks in just under an hour, fully fulfils the promise of the debut, although on Love & Hate we mainly hear the wondrous seeds of a true masterpiece.
source: Jan Liebregts and NPO photo: Anna Hanks
