Undercover Brothers Ug also simply known as Undercover Brothers are a Ugandan music duo composed of guitarist and vocalist Jay K Mulungi and vocalist Timothy Kirya,[2] whose music career sparked off when they won the auditions and represented Uganda in the sixth season of East Africa's biggest singing competition Tusker Project Fame.[3][4] The duo released their first album titled At Dawn in December 2014.[5] In December 2016, their song Nsikatila was nominated in the Best R&B Song category at HiPipo Music Awards (#HMA) 2017.
Undercover Brothers Ug | |
|---|---|
Undercover Brothers Ug members | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Kampala, Uganda |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2013–2020 |
| Labels | Platinum Entertainment |
| Members |
|
The duo has shared the stage with some of Uganda's biggest stars such as Rachael Magoola, Jackie Chandiru, Madoxx Ssemanda Sematimba, Maurice Kirya, Jemimah Sanyu and Chantal Letio.
History
editUndercover Brothers Ug landed on the East African music stage when they represented Uganda in East Africa's biggest singing competition Tusker Project Fame season six, though they did not win.[6] Since then, the duo, however, did not look back but instead continued entertaining people with their best guitar tunes and sweet melodies and suddenly they released their first album, At Dawn.
Undercover Brothers Ug held their first ever concerts dubbed Unveiling Undercover Brothers Ug[7] on the 13 and 20 December 2014 in Kampala. These concerts acted as their official release dates for their first album, At Dawn which sold physical copies at the concerts. The first concert was blessed by a performance by Uganda's king of Mwooyo Maurice Kirya. The third single, Nsikatila marketed the album which increased album sales[5] in December 2014. The duo released their first music video for the song Diamond, a collabo with Uganda's young rapper Young Zee[8] in May 2014. The duo was one of the few artists and bands chosen to entertain people on World Music Day 2014[9] and 2015[10] organised by Alliance Francaise in Kampala, Uganda. The duo has also performed at different music festivals including Pearl Rhythm Festival alongside Jackie Chandiru in October 2014[11] after winning the Pearl Rhythm Stage Coach Auditions,[12] Bayimba International Music Festival, Laba Street Art Festival[13] as well as the Milege World Music Festival organized by Milege in November 2014,[14] and 2015,[15] Nyege Nyege 2015 and 2016 where they slayed the festival with a great heavy performance,[16] Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Festival and many more.
The Undercover Brothers, with The Kava Band - a live performing band they formed in 2016, have held weekly shows at different locations in Kampala starting with Istanbul Restaurant early 2016, The Game Club late 2016 and Bubbles Olearys from January to August 2017. While on these weekly shows, the Undercover Brothers have hosted other Ugandan musicians such as Vampino, Chameleone, The Tabs Ug, Kenneth Mugabi, Micheal Kitanda, Levixone, Happy Kyaze and many others.
From mid-2017, Undercover Brothers flanked by their cover band have been playing at Alex Muhangi's weekly comedy show Comedy Store Uganda in Kampala.[17]
Awards and nominations
edit| Awards & Nominations | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
| 2016 | HiPipo Music Awards | Best R&B Song (Nsikatila) | Nominated | [18][19] |
Members
edit- Timothy Kirya is a singer-songwriter, vocal coach, and guitar instructor. Timothy is a lead singer for the Undercover Brothers Ug and sometimes plays the acoustic guitar. He has co-written all songs on Undercover Brothers Ug's At Dawn album including a number of unreleased songs
- Jay K Mulungi is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, model, and owner of Fashion Clinik Ug, a clothing line in Kampala. He plays the lead guitar and sometimes the bass guitar for Undercover Brothers Ug. He has also co-written all songs on Undercover Brothers Ug's At Dawn album including a number of unreleased songs.
Jay K Mulungi debuted his acting career as Henry in a Ugandan television series, Balikoowa in the City.
Discography
editAlbums
edit- Released: 13 December 2014
- Format: CD
- Label: Little Penny Studios, Grayce Records
- Writer: Timothy Kirya, Jay K Mulungi
- Producer: Producer Jude Mugerwa, Producer Joseph Mayanja, Producer Andy Music, Producer Nase Pro
- Tracks: Nsikatila, Like a Diamond, Kilalu, Munyenye, Mama
- Bonus tracks: 2
- Singles: Nsikatila, Like a Diamond (feat. Youngzee)
Hitlist[20]
Singles
editMusic videos
edit| Year | Title | Producer | Editor | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | "Nsikatila" | Jude Mugerwa | NG Films Crew | |
| 2014 | "Like a Diamond" (with Young Zee) | Andy Muzic | Diana Mbondo | Kayode Gbenga |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Kaggwa, Andrew (December 11, 2014). "Undercover Brothers to be re-unveiled". The Observer. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "Undercover Brothers: A persistent duo". monitor.co.ug. monitor.co.ug. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- ^ "The Undercover Brothers on eviction, wearing caps and faking accents". Satisfaction Ug. Satisfaction Ug. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ "news: Undercover brothers return from TPF, remain upbeat". Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ a b "updates: Undercover Brothers Ug release first Album". Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ "Welcome party for evicted 'Undercover Brothers' excites fans in Kampala". Retrieved 4 November 2013.
- ^ "UNVEILING UNDERCOVER BROTHERS UG : Unveiling Undercover Brothers Ug". Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "music: Undercover Brothers unveil new video". 16 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- ^ "music: When streets turned into dancing halls". Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ "music: When the world spoke musically". Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Article: The pearl rhythm: Has Uganda finally found its music identity?". Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ "Entertainment: Undercover brothers shine at pearl rhythm auditions". Retrieved 27 October 2014.
- ^ "Eventsguideug:Undercover Brothers warm". Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ "Entertainment: Milege festival turns chilly Entebbe warm". Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ "World music gets botanical platform". The Observer. The Observer. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Photos: Undercover Brothers Slaying At The Nyege Nyege International Music Festival". Big Eye. Big Eye Ug. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Kenya's Nameless and Eric Omondi to thrill revelers as Comedy Store returns". Bigeye. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ "The 5 th Prestigious HiPipo Music Awards Nominations List" (PDF). Hipipo. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Sheebah Karungi leads nominations at HiPipo Music Awards: Check out full list here!". Big Eye. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Undercover Brothers determined to take on the big boys". The Observer Ug. Andrew Kaggwa. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
External links
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