British singer songwriter Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Hero‘ and his ‘Hero (Intro)‘ were featured on the latest episode of the superhero series Black Lightning this week — Black Lightning, Season 3, Episode 13, “The Book of Markovia: Chapter Four“.
The episode aired on The CW, its usual channel, on February 10th, 2020.
Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Hero‘ and ‘Hero (Intro)’ are from the artist’s third studio album Kiwanuka.
Released in 2019, the album was not only critically acclaimed by just about every media outlet that reviewed it, but was also a big hit for Michael around the world.
Kiwanuka made it onto the album charts in 20 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. It hit the number 2 spot in both Scotland and the UK, and the #4 position in Belgium.
The British newspaper The Guardian named it as one of the greatest albums of the decade, calling it “both timeless and contemporary”.
Others called it a career defining release.
The 14-track album itself is meant to be listened to in one sitting, with Kiwanuka saying that is a reaction to how fast-paced the world is and how few people seem to have time to just sit, relax and contemplate.
‘Hero‘ itself, with its distinctive 60s feel, compares the murder of 1960s American activist and revolutionary socialist Fred Hampton with the many shootings of black men still occurring in the United States nowadays.
After all, it may be almost 60 years since Hampton’s death but, as far as civil rights go, a lot still has not changed.
And, while the lyrics of the song are quite simple, they are still powerful. Particularly when you watch the music video that was released along with the song.
Listen to Michael Kiwanuka’s ‘Hero‘ in that video below, and don’t miss his third studio album in full in the Spotify player below that.
Read: Michael Kiwanuka’s gorgeous song ‘Love & Hate’ was featured on Rosewood