Iryn enjoys an established fame in Uganda, her native land, where she was crowned "Female Artist of the Year 2006" and won "Best R&B song". Before that, she had put out an album in 2001 under the name I-Jay and has also opened up for many Reggae/Ragga acts like Shaggy Red Rat, Goofy and Lucky Dube...
She came to Paris in 2000 and was later discovered as a back up vocalist for Björk at the 2002 Victoires de la Musique. In 2003, Iryn participated on the latest album of award winning nu-soul duet "Les Nubians", One Step Forward (Virgin).
In 2001, Iryn meets composer and project initiator Julien Groult in Paris. After a few months and a few concerts, the alchemy is at work; the duo NUJELI releases its first album "Ensi" with Bloom Records in 2004. Iryn sings in English and in Luganda (pronounced looganda). But the choice to sing in her native language was made only recently, from the wish to make her people heard, thus perpetuating oral tradition. The themes she tackles avoid emptiness, they are deep and political: she speaks about life, love, children, violence, disease and death with strength, metaphors and images.
Today, IRYN pursues several projects : a second album with NUJELI (waiting to be produced and distributed), regular featuring with ELECTRODELUXE (voted "best ELECTRO JAZZ group" in 2006 by ADAMI in France). She also goes on regular tours in Uganda where she is a true star artist. She's looking for a serious and dedicated record company that would help her develop her career up to the high standards she has set for herself.
Aside her musical career, IRYN is very involved in an NGO she set up in UGANDA: "Together for the Children". She gave a fundraising show in June 2006 that allowed her to begin supporting 10 needy children in Kampala. She is very keen on making this project grow and believes "this might be a small drop in an ocean of poverty... but every ocean is made of small drops anyway". If interested in supporting IRYN with this project, please feel free to email her trough myspace.com.
IRYN : a true voice