As a tradition, I will tell you how I met Mr Kiwanuka’s music for the first time, and the soul journey I had to go through that made me write this column about this amazing artist and why you need to must listen to his music.
First off, whenever I get the chance to listen to new artist I do it, because you never know, they might become the next big thing. That’s exactly what I thought about Michael Kiwanuka when I first heard his music. The BBC’s Sound of 2012 lists were released last year, and of course, I had to listen to every artist. While getting to know some of them, Michael Kiwanuka’s music was the one that I liked the most, and I think mainly because he sounded so different from what we’re used to today. I went to YouTube and looked him up, and I clicked on the video for the song “Tell Me A Tale”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTa28a8QKo4
After this, it was clear. I had to find more music by this guy. Why is he so talented and not worldwide recognized? Not only is his genre of music so unique in today’s overpopulated dance/hip-hop songs at our radio stations, this was at last a breath of fresh air. Michael Kiwanuka sings the type of music that anyone can listen to and hopefully most will enjoy, not too loud, not to slow, perfect soul for any ocassion. After watching the video for “Tell Me A Tale” I realized that yeah, the guy sounds like a present day Otis Redding, and I completely love it. If you pay attention to the video, you will realize that if Lana Del Rey can go viral with a video like “Video Games“, the video for “Tell Me A Tale” uses the exact same of vintage cinematography, I’m starting a viral campaign, right here at TheYoungFolks.com. Just so you know who told you about him first!
Michael Kiwanuka is an Ugandan descent, British soul singer, more like alternative soul, that has been compared to soul artists like Otis Redding and Bill Withers. I think that if it wasn’t because he was on the poll list for BBC’s Sound of 2012, I would probably would have never been exposed to his music, and it is my biggest hope that this column can gather him some fans and that he is incredibly succesful and that it’s not just me and Gaby the ones that know about him!
How is Michael going to break off from the indie spotlight? Well, if I’ve gotten you interested enough in his music with my soul journey, he just started working on a single with The Black Keys, he was Adele‘s opening act on the second leg of her UK tour, so yes, slowly but surely this guy will be getting to the spotlight. Just letting everyone know, if Michael and Adele ever work together in a song, call an ambulance for me please. That will be magical. In other news, I hope that Michael Kiwanuka starts touring the US again, hopefully more cities, but in order for him to do that he needs a larger audience. And this is where you, Young Folks, come along. If you like his music, share his videos, this type of rare and amazing talent NEEDS to be heard! Michael Kiwanuka will be at SXSW festival for one of their music showcases and his debut album, “Home Again” will be released on March this year.
Here’s Michael Kiwanuka’s latest released video for “I’m Getting Ready”
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Connect with Michael at http://www.michaelkiwanuka.com
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/michaelkiwanuka
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/michaelkiwanuka
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