Michael Kiwanuka

British musician Michael Kiwanuka introduced and ingratiated himself with his acclaimed debut album, Home Again. A talented, unassuming young man of Ugandan heritage and honeyed voice, Michael was busy making some of the sweetest contemporary soul music of recent years.

With a BRIT Award to his name before arguably finding his own distinct space, Michael took a decidedly left turn for the Love & Hate LP. Produced alongside Danger Mouse, the record flew to number 1 in the UK, with its otherworldly soundscapes sounding utterly both singular and sprawling, an opus by anyone’s definition.

A complex but deeply listenable and expansive expression of self worth, KIWANUKA reaped Michael the distinguished Mercury Prize, his fourth and fifth BRIT nominations (British Male Solo Artist and British Album), and his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Album.

All three records have been certified gold status in the UK alone. Quite how an artist begins to follow up one of “the greatest albums of the decade” (The Guardian), we will surely soon find out, but Michael’s been keeping himself in good company as a regular contributor and confidante of the acclaimed SAULT collective, both on and off stage.

An artist in its truest, purest sense.

Photo Credit: Olivia Rose