After revealing its longlist of 15 acts it tipped for the year ahead in December, the BBC named the winner of its Sound of 2012 poll on Friday (January 6th).
Following on from his supporting role in 2008 winner Adele’s 2011 tour, Michael Kiwanuka has been awarded first place, in anticipation of his debut album Home Again to be released in mid-March. In a mould refreshingly dissimilar to current chart trends, the British soul musician dazzles with his laid-back and simplistic acoustic guitar sound, adding his stunning vocals, piano and strings accompaniment. It is clear that Kiwanuka will shine this year, and with his current single ‘Home Again’ riding high in both radio play and the iTunes charts, Michael is already achieving great success.
The poll of 184 UK music industry experts has also seen Frank Ocean, who is currently working with Kanye West, Jay-Z and Justin Beiber, second, and topper of the NME Cool List 2011 Azaelia Banks coming third. Meanwhile, energetic dubstep producer and DJ Skrillex places fourth. With the release of his fourth EP Bangarang, which features collaborations from The Doors, Wolfgang Gartner and Ellie Goulding, Skrillex’s (aka Sonny Moore’s) low performance has come unexpected by many who expect him to build on the popularity of last summer’s More Monsters and Sprites EP. Rounding out the top five are Swedish electronic duo Niki & the Dove in fifth.
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Skrillex at No. 4? Frank Ocean?? Those would have been a fairly cutting edge choice this time last year maybe haha