The band was formed by brothers Axel and Pål Vindenes, together with school friends Jonas Nielsen and Stian Sævig. All classically trained musicians, the band was formed to play a one-off show at a local youth centre, Ungdomshuset 1880, but after positive response the band continued to play many live shows around Norway. In 2006, the band made their first recording and released the EP Already Your Favourite EP which was produced by Matias Tellez and featured the track "OOO".

Kakkmaddafakka released its first LP Down to Earth on 24 September 2007, which reached number twenty on the VG Topp30 Album list and brought the band nationwide attention in their native Norway, despite a largely negative critical response.

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The band is one of many artists who emerged from Bergen, which the Norwegian press has called the "New Bergen Wave", as it is reminiscent of the many successful bands that emerged from Bergen in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.

Kakkmaddafakka has performed at numerous festivals including Iceland Airwaves, Montreux Jazz Festival, NXNE, CMJ Music Marathon, Southside Festival, Hurricane Festival, Eurosonic Festival, Area 4 Hove and Melt! Festival in Germany, where they were introduced on stage by prominent Bergen musician and friend Erlend Øye.

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In 2008, Kakkmaddafakka was nominated as Best Norwegian Act in the MTV Europe Music Awards, along with Madcon, Ida Maria, Karpe Diem and eventual winners Erik og Kriss.

On 25 February 2011, Kakkmaddafakka released their second album Hest. The album was produced by Erlend Øye. The first single taken from the album was "Restless".

On 28 June 2013, the band released their third album Six Months Is a Long Time. It was again produced by Erlend Øye and released on Universal Music Germany, featuring the singles "Someone New", "Young" and "Forever Alone".

In early 2014, pianist and founder member Jonas Nielsen left the band and was replaced by Sebastian Emin Kittelsen.

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Now in 2016 the band is back with their strongest album ever called KMF. The band will tour for the most part of 2016 to promote their new album.