| Iryn Namubiru | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 January 1981 Uganda |
| Residence | Paris, France |
| Nationality | Ugandan |
| Ethnicity | Muganda |
| Citizenship | Uganda |
| Education | General Education Namasagali College, Namasagali, Uganda University Stendhal University Grenoble, France. |
| Occupation | Musician & Entertainer |
| Years active | 1998 — present |
| Known for | Music |
| Home town | Kampala |
Iryn Namubiru, also known as Irene Namubiru is a female, Ugandan performing artist, resident in Paris, France.
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She was born in Central Uganda. Namubiru attended several educational institutions, including:
While at Namasagali College, Iryn met another current female, Ugandan, performing artist, who was attending the college at the same time; Juliana Kanyomozi. They became friends.
According to Iryn, she has always had a passion for singing since her childhood and always strove to make this talent a bigger part of her life. Her first major attempt at success in the music industry came in 1995 when she joined singers Ragga Dee and Messe to release a single. Soon after wards, she had her first stage appearance in September 1995.[1]
In 1999, she joined Juliana Kanyomozi, her former school mate at Namasagali College, and together they formed the R&B all-girl group called I-Jay.[2] In 2000, they released their first single which got 'moderate' air play on radio stations in Uganda.
Soon after the release of their record, Iryn left for France and the group disbanded. This break up would later lead to wide speculation that the two separated on unfriendly terms although they both denied such rumors. While in France, she formed the Afro-Soul group Nujeli together with Julien Grout and they released songs like Nsangi, Eko, Ensi and Baami Baffe. But these songs were not successful in Uganda. Later on, Iryn joined forces with singer Bebe Cool in the songs Simbalala and Lwaki Onzannyilako?.
However, Iryn didn't achieve widespread success until 2006 when she released her album Nkuweeki?.[3] This marked the beginning of her fast rise to be one of the best female musicians in Uganda. Since 2006, Iryn Namubiru has released several successful songs like Y'ono, Lwaki, Bonna Obasinga " Begombeko", " Birowoozo", which have earned her several leading awards in the Ugandan music industry. In 2011, Iryn capped her most successful year ever by winning in four categories of the 2011 PAM(Pearl of Africa Music) Awards. She won in the categories of Artist of the year, Female Artist of the year, Album of the year and Best RnB single of the year.
Iryn Namubiru has been widely criticized by her detractors for dressing "inappropriately" in her music videos and at times, her concerts. Her critics charge that her costumes go against the traditional Ugandan way of dressing and set a bad example for other aspiring musicians. In 2009, her video for the hugely successful Bonna Obasinga was panned by several people, several of them fans, for going too far with the swimming costume she wore. She later decided to shoot another video for the song to placate her critics. However, many of her fans have defended her "creative" dressing against such accusations and blame them on those who are still socially backward and are not willing to try out new styles.[4]
Iryn is married to Julien Groult, a Frenchman, and together, they have two sons.[5][6] She is fluent in English, French and Luganda, her native tongue. She balances her career between her family in France, where she lives, and Uganda, where most of her music fans reside.