Michael Kiwanuka Wins 2020 Mercury Award

Singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka won the 2020 Mercury Award for his third album, Kiwanuka.

An exuberant and immersive album with a politicized soul, sees the star exploring themes of doubt, faith and civil rights.

Released last November, Kiwanuka beat out top sellers like Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head to win the £ 25,000 prize pool.

“It has driven me crazy,” said the singer. “Music is all I ever wanted to do, so I’m over the moon.”

Kiwanuka won on his third try, having been nominated for each of his previous albums: 2012’s Home Again and 2016’s Love & Hate.

“I was a bit resigned to the fact [that] if I don’t win one this year, I probably never will, “he told BBC 6 Music.

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Kiwanuka’s victory was revealed by Radio 1’s Annie Mac on The One Show, after Covid-19 restrictions made the traditional awards ceremony impossible.

The DJ, who was on the judging panel alongside the likes of Jamie Cullum and Jorja Smith, said it had been a “unanimous” decision.

“I don’t think any of the judges left unhappy,” he said. “Everyone felt the same about this album, and it was that it deserved the award.”

Kiwanuka, whose Ugandan parents escaped the Idi Amin regime to settle in Muswell Hill, London, is a former session musician who dropped out of the Royal Academy of Music to become a soloist.

She first came to attention after supporting Adele on her 2011 tour and winning the BBC’s Sound of 2012. She released her debut album, Home Again, later that year.

Imposter syndrome

The musician cemented his reputation with 2016’s Love & Hate, which made him a star in the US when the opening song, Cold Little Heart, became the theme song for the TV series Big Little Lies.

Despite its success, his latest album emerged from a period of paralyzing self-doubt.

“I’ve always had imposter syndrome,” he told the BBC last year. “I was always waiting for someone to discover me.

“But about a year and a half ago, I got tired of that way of thinking. I just said, ‘This doesn’t help anyone, least of all me.’

The result was Kiwanuka’s opening track, You Ain’t The Problem, in which the musician promises to stop getting in his own way, singing: “I used to hate myself / You have the key / Escape from prison. “

The album continues as a cycle of songs where Kiwanuka’s own experiences and fears are intertwined with displays from civil rights activists and reflections on racial politics.

In the psych-rock soliloquy, Hero, he compares the murder of the 1960s Black Panther activist Fred Hampton to the recent shootings by American police. Exasperated, he turns to God for answers on the call-and-answer coda of I’ve been in a daze.

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Released last November, the album garnered rave reviews and reached number two on the UK charts.

It is the latest album to reflect the experiences of young black British men who will be chosen by the Mercury judges. Kiwanuka is the fifth black male solo artist to win the award in the past six years. Rapper Dave won for Psychodrama last year.

The musician was the bookies’ favorite to win, followed by Laura Marling, who has now been outscored four times.

Announcing the winner on The One Show will certainly give Kiwanuka record-breaking additional exposure. BBC One’s primetime show regularly draws three million viewers, compared to 155,000 who watched last year’s BBC Four final.

Mac explained that Kiwanuka had been informed of the result before the show, to be invited to the studio.

However, he shared a video of the moment he ambushed him with the news, as he was on his way to be interviewed by Jools Holland.

The star will celebrate his victory on a special edition of Later … With Jools at 22:00 BST on Friday night.

The full list for the 2020 Mercury Prize was:

• Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter
• Dua Lipa – Nostalgia for the future
• Porridge – Every Bad
• Sports Team – Deep Down Happy
• Kano – Hoodies All Summer
• Anna Meredith – FIBS
• Georgia – Looking for emotions
• Lanterns on the Lake – Spook the Herd
• Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
• Charli XCX – How I Feel Right Now
• Stormzy – Heavy is the head
• Michael Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka

The short list was praised for highlighting female artists, who outnumbered men for the first time in the award’s 29-year history.

But the organizers were criticized for excluding British-Asian artist Rina Sawayama because she does not have a British passport.

After the singer said she was “heartbroken” by the decision, the BIS, which organizes both the Mercury Prize and the Brit Awards, said it would review its eligibility criteria.

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