- Juliana Kanyomozi and Iryn Namubiru address media for creating fake feud between them
- They started their singing careers together in the late 1990s and formed a girl-group, I-Jay
- Juliana released hit songs like 'Seven Days,' 'Don't Wanna Cry' before transitioning to Luganda
Singers Juliana Kanyomozi and Iryn Namubiru have blamed a section of the media for misleading the public into believing that they were nemeses.
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While speaking on Juliana’s vlog on YouTube, the veteran singers noted that they have lived through several counter-accusations from the media attributed to them.
Namubiru noted that at one point she had to block the bloggers and journalists who reported to her how Juliana was reportedly plotting something terrible against her. She added that, at the time of the accusation, she was close to Juliana.
“At some point, I had to block the bloggers and journalists who used to come to me with cooked-up stories of you plotting terrible things against me, because I knew none of those things were true, especially considering at the time, we were very close and always talking to each other,” Namubiru said.
On her part, Juliana insinuated that the rumours were convenient for the media, who were benefiting from them at the expense of the fans.
“I think most of these print and social media outlets were benefiting from the imaginary feud, which in fact never existed. However, my concern was the fans always believed these things,” she noted.
A long history
Namubiru and Juliana share a long history, starting their singing careers in the late 1990s.
They reportedly started singing together as early as 1999 at Sabrina’s Pub. They then formed a girl-group, I-Jay. The idea of I-Jay was mooted by group manager Frank Galusey Morel (then a Deputy Director at Alliance Francaise).
Morel, Namubiru's husband, wanted her to move with him to France. So, she decided to record an album with Juliana Kanyomozi before leaving. The album featured songs such as ‘Vivi La Vie’ and ‘Not Good Enough’.
With Iryn Namubiru out of the country, all the focus was on Juliana. She released hit songs like ‘Seven Days’, ‘Don’t Wanna Cry’, amongothers, before transitioning to Luganda, where she made her mark
The collaboration with Bobi Wine, ‘Mama Mbiire’ took Kampala by storm. She followed up the success with ‘Nabikoowa’, another smash hit song.
On the other hand, Namubiru would make a mega comeback on the Ugandan scene with ‘Nkuweeki’ in 2006.
The two have gone on to hold long and successful solo careers since then.