KIWANUKA WINS MERCURY PRIZE

Michael Kiwanuka has received the 2020 Mercury Prize for Album of the Year for his third studio release, Kiwanuka (Interscope). It's Kiwanuka's third nomination and first win.

Dua Lipa and Stormzy were among the dozen nominees.

Judges said of the album that it “is not only a complete work, but also one that is borne of the courage of its creator to build his own world and invite us in. Warm, rich, hugely accomplished and belonging to no one genre but its own, Kiwanuka is a masterpiece."

Kiwanuka said of the win: "I'm so excited—this is for art, for music, for albums. This is the only thing I've ever wanted to do, so to win a Mercury is a dream come true. I'm so happy. Music and art means so much to me, and this is an award that celebrates that, so I'm over the moon."

In his review of the album for U.K. monthly Uncut, our own Bud Scoppa pointed to the "potent three-way collaboration" between co-producers Danger Mouse, Inflo and Kiwanuka "that resulted in the 2016 breakthrough Love & Hate," which set the template for the follow-up. "Kiwanuka is structured in movements, like a classical symphony, with shape-shifting interludes connecting one track to the next," Scoppa noted, adding that "the best way to experience the album is by listening to it from start to finish and getting lost in the beguiling totality of it."