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Oct 17, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Michael Kiwanuka

Michael Kiwanuka is releasing a new album, simply titled KIWANUKA, on November 1 via Interscope. Now he has shared another song from the album, “Hero,” via a video for the track. “Hero” starts out slow and acoustic before building into a more upbeat number. CC Wade directed the video, which takes place in the ‘60s during the Civil Rights Movement. He has also announced some new 2020 tour dates. Watch the “Hero” video below, followed by the tour dates.

A press release says the song is inspired by some of Kiwanuka’s heroes: Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, JFK, Sam Cooke, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Tupac and more.

The press release describes the video in more detail: “The video is based on COINTELPRO, the FBI’s covert program of suppressing organizations and public figures, including musicians, who were involved in or supported anti-establishment political activity from the 1950s through to the 70s. Directed by CC Wade, the video shows a tornado of conspiracy surrounding a famous musician’s death, set against the backdrop of ‘60s black liberation movements, FBI corruption, and hippie counter culture.”

Kiwanuka had this to add: “‘Hero’ is a song about how the gems of this world always seem to die young, and how those who are oppressed often seem to have the most to offer us.”

Previously Kiwanuka shared a lyric video for KIWANUKA‘s first single, “You Ain’t the Problem,” which was one of our Songs of the Week.

KIWANUKA is Kiwanuka’s third album and the follow-up to 2016’s Love & Hate, whose opening track “Cold Little Heart” is also the theme song to the acclaimed HBO show Big Little Lies. As with Love & Hate, Danger Mouse and Inflo produced KIWANUKA, which was recorded in New York, LA, and London.

Kiwanuka had this to say about the album in a previous press release: “The last album came from an introspective place and felt like therapy, I guess. This one is more about feeling comfortable in who I am and asking what I want to say. Like, how could I be bold and challenge myself and the listener? It is about self-acceptance in a more triumphant rather than melancholy way. It’s an album that explores what it means to be a human being today.”

Kiwanuka added: “When I first signed a record deal, people would ask me, ‘So what are you going to be called?’ And I never thought of that; calling myself Johnny Thunders or whatever, like singers from the past. So, on this album it’s kind of a defiant thing; I’m engaging with who I am and I’m not going to have an alter ego, or become Sasha Fierce or Ziggy Stardust, even though everyone’s telling me I need to be this, that or the other. I can just be Michael Kiwanuka.”

Michael Kiwanuka Tour Dates:

1/22/20 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
1/24/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Theatre at the Ace Hotel
1/25/20 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
1/26/20 - Portland, CA @ Roseland Theater
1/28/20 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
1/29/20 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
1/31/20 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
2/01/20 - Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
2/03/20 - St Paul, MN @ Palace Theater
2/04/20 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
2/06/20 - Toronto, ON @ Rebel
2/07/20 - Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
2/08/20 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5
2/10/20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
2/11/20 - Boston, MA @ Royale
2/12/20 - Washington D.C. @ Lincoln Theatre
2/14/20 - Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
2/15/20 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse

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