Early years Kiwanuka worked as a session guitarist, playing with
Chipmunk and
Bashy before working as a solo artist. He came to the attention of Communion Records, which released his first two
EPs,
2011–2016: Home Again and Love & Hate Kiwanuka supported
Adele on her
Adele Live 2011 tour, as well as at her
iTunes Festival 2011 gig, and played at the 2011
Hard Rock Calling. In 2011, he signed a deal with
Polydor Records. Kiwanuka released his debut studio album,
Home Again, in 2012 to positive reviews from critics. The album peaked at number 4 in the UK and, as of 2012, has sold over 70,000 copies in the UK. After scrapping an entire second album (due to be called
Night Songs) after he was discouraged by an A&R man, in 2016, Kiwanuka released his follow-up to
Home Again,
Love & Hate. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching number 1 on the UK albums chart. The album was produced by
Danger Mouse and spawned several singles. The song "Cold Little Heart" was the theme of the HBO series
Big Little Lies.
2018–2019: Collaborations and Kiwanuka Kiwanuka recorded a track called "On My Knees" with
UNKLE for the 2018 soundtrack to the film
Roma. In 2019 he collaborated with Tom Misch on the single "Money". His own song "You Ain't the Problem" preceded his third album
Kiwanuka, which was released in November 2019, again to critical and commercial success. The album placed at number 2 in the UK charts, has been gold certified for over 100,000 sales, and won the UK Mercury Music Prize for 2020, his first win after his first two albums were nominated.
Danger Mouse was involved with the album, along with producer
Inflo. Kiwanuka said that the choice of album name reflected his increasing confidence in being himself.
2020s In 2024, Kiwanuka announced a co-headlining tour with American rock singer-songwriter
Brittany Howard. In June 2024, Kiwanuka played a set on the Pyramid stage at the
Glastonbury Festival. In July 2024, Kiwanuka released the single "Floating Parade", his first new music in three years. That song appeared on his fourth studio album,
Small Changes, which was released on 22 November 2024. Having completed a headlining tour of the UK and Europe in February, in July 2025, Kiwanuka cancelled European festival dates, including at
Sziget Festival, due to "continued illness", as reported by his management team. He also was forced to pull out of a support slot for
Mumford & Sons through North America later that year. ==Musical style==