Who is Ykee Benda? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, music, wife, family, tribe, relationship with Julie Batenga and Martha Kay, early life and education of Wycliffe Tugume.
Wycliffe Tugume, known as Ykee Benda, is a versatile Ugandan singer and the CEO at Mpaka Records. He established Mpaka Records after leaving Badi Music.
Ykee sings several genres like dancehall, soul-pop and others. His music career began in 2017 when he released his first album.
He served as the President of the Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) between July 2020 and February 2021 before resigning by himself.
Early Life and Education
Wycliffe Tugume, known as Ykee Benda was born in Naguru estates where they stayed for a short time with his parents and shifted to Kireka till his adult age, and that’s why Ykee always refer to himself as “Kireka Boy”.
His education journey started at Nursery in Kireka at Profla Nursery School, then moved to Shimoni Demonstration School for his Primary level where he possessed his hard-working tactics in books which gave him a milestone in his academic journey, thus, joining Ndejje Secondary School where he started developing stubbornness which led him to a suspension in Senior two.
Ykee reveals that the suspension was due to a school-based peer “Fire base” that he joined.
In S.3, Ykee shifted his focus from books to other matters resulting in poor performance making his father annoyed and switching him to St Lawrence School, Ssonde for S.4.
This regained Ykee focus on books and eventually passed very well that won his father a warm suggestion that he should complete his HSC at the very school.
At the High School level, Ykee did Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Economics (PCM/E) and passed, they went to MUBS for BCom. He got stranded on his academy way when pursuing the course due to a lack of tuition and decided to terminate it.
Luckily after some time, Ykee was told about a scholarship for studying Chemical Engineering in Algeria.
He applied for it and was given, therefore, prepared for the ticked with help from his parents and boarded for studying which he later pursued.
Work and Experience
Although he has a degree in Chemical Engineering attained from Algeria, Ykee Benda did not go for office work or any other job related to what he studied however, reverted to his dream career of being a musician.
His dream was to sing though his father wanted him to do a big office job thus forcing him to continue with the education journey.
In 2017, when he released his “Kireka Boy” Album, Ykee Benda departed from “Badi Music” and focused on his “Mpaka Records” label that he had formed.
In 2020, he landed on a juicy deal when he was chosen as Prudential Insurance Company ambassador.
He also served as Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) President from July 2020 – Feb 2021.
Music carrier
In his Senior Six vacation, Ykee Benda begun writing songs because of his burning dream to be a big artiste that appears on a billboard and known everywhere.
However, it was in 2017 that he released his first Album called “Kireka Boy” which trended on market. By this year, he quit from the “Badi Music” record label where he was signed under.
While talking to journalists in an interview in 2017, Ykee Benda revealed he quit after a mutual understanding with his bosses and therefore, there were no wrangles in between.
“I simply wanted to grow. There was nothing personal with my bosses,” said the singer, who further revealed that he had formed his label known as Mpaka Records, a name he got from his father’s surname, Mpakanyi.
Internationally in the very year, Ykee Benda was selected to represent Uganda in the Coke Studio Africa where he collaborated with Jah Prayzah from (Zimbabwe) and Mr Bow (Mozambique). This made him more popular and helped him to build his music carrier and push up to the fullest.
In 2018, he was chosen alongside several African artistes to perform on the Official Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup Anthem with American pop singer Jason Derulo.
Still, in 2018, he won the African newcomer artist of the year With An AFRIMMA Award held in Dallas, United States.
In 2020, he was President-elect Uganda Musicians Association (UMA) but later on, he resigned. However, he is still running his record label “Mpaka Records” which signed singers like Dre Cali.
Awards
- AFRIMMA Best Newcomer 2018.
- Hi Skool Awards Marketing Team of the Year 2018 – Team Ykee Benda.
- Hi Skool Awards Song of the Year 2018 – Superman.
- Hi Skool Awards Album of the Year 2018 – Kireka Boy.
- Hi Skool Awards Music Video of the Year 2018 – Superman.
- Zzina Awards Best Male Artist 2018.
- Buzz Teeniez Male Artist 2017
- Buzz Teeniez Breakout Artist 2017.
- Buzz Teeniez Songwriter 2017.
- Zzina Breakthrough Artist 2017.
- Zzina Best Collaboration of the Year 2017 – Farmer (Remix) Ykee Benda & Sheebah
Ykee Benda Songs
- Superman (2018)
- Byonkola (2017)
- Muna Kampala (2017)
- Ma Bebe (2020)
- Kyenkyebula (2017)
- Malaika (2017)
- Singa (2017)
- Amina (2017)
- Whistle (2018)
- Turn Up D’vibe (2020)
- Blessing (2020)
- Ebilooto (2017)
- Nope (2017)
- Ebintu byo (2017)
- Radioman (2020)
- Maradona (2019)
- Sweet love (2017)
Albums
- Kireka Boy (2017)
- Bomboklat (2020)
Relationships
Ykee Benda was in a relationship with Julie Batenga with whom they have a son called Dante. He even went for an introduction and became married officially however, their marriage lasted for only 9 months and the two separated.
However, Ykee has been rumoured to be in love with the Ugandan local Comic artiste Martha Kay. The two shower themselves with some love whenever they meet and sometimes post each other on social media handles.
The truth is not yet confirmed whether the two artistes are in a relationship.
Controversies
In 2018, Ykee Benda found a hard time when he broke up with his wife Julie Batenga whom he had proposed in 2017. They had only stayed together for 9 months after meeting in Mukono.
Stress won Ykee hard feelings and went to his social media handles where he asked his fans to ask him any questions which answered almost to whoever asked.
In 2021, Ykee Benda faced a hard time as UMA President and he chose to resign. This sparked off when he posted MTV MAMA Awards on his Twitter handle.
This made angry fans attack and demanding him to explain why he didn’t take any step in making sure that fellow singers like Nubian Li who were arrested by the government over political affairs get released.
He found sleepless nights due to insults and therefore decided to resign in Feb 2021. So, he heads the union for only Six months.
