Michael Kiwanuka, born in Muswell Hill, London in 1987 and of Ugandan heritage, is an English soul and folk singer-songwriter on Polydor. Love & Hate (2016) — home of Cold Little Heart, the Big Little Lies theme — is the breakthrough, and Kiwanuka (2019) won the 2020 Mercury Prize. Shop Michael Kiwanuka vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Michael Samuel Kiwanuka was born in Muswell Hill, London on May 3, 1987. He is of Ugandan heritage, with his parents having fled the Idi Amin regime. He signed with Polydor Records and released his debut Home Again (2012). His 2016 album Love & Hate (with the single Cold Little Heart, which became the theme song for the HBO series Big Little Lies) was a critical breakthrough. His 2019 self-titled Kiwanuka won the 2020 Mercury Prize. He has worked extensively with producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) across multiple albums.
Michael Kiwanuka's sound combines soul, folk, R&B, neo-soul, psychedelic soul, indie folk, and rock with his distinctive vocal delivery and arrangements drawing on classic 1960s and 1970s soul (particularly Otis Redding, Bill Withers, and Curtis Mayfield reference points) alongside contemporary indie folk and rock production approaches.
Polydor Records pressings of the Michael Kiwanuka catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings.
Listeners new to Michael Kiwanuka typically start with Love & Hate (2016) or Kiwanuka (2019).
