Tracy Kirabo, known professionally as Pia Pounds, is a Ugandan singer-songwriter of
electronic dance,
RnB and
afrobeat music, and a performer, Fashionista, actress and businesswoman.
She is the first Ugandan female artiste to have a single ("Tupaate") featured in a Netflix series (Young, Famous & African).[1] She is also the co-founder of the African Bureau of Music (ABM).[2][3]
Early life and career
Born on 8 November 1996 in Gomba and raised in Buziga by her auntie after the death of her mother when she was 2 years old. Pounds grew up doing odd jobs in order to sustain herself, raise money for school fees and also get money for her music career. She demonstrated her musical talents from a young age through music dance. She has performed live in Uganda, UAE, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan.[4]
In 2011, Pounds was first recognised on the music scene at 14 years while in high school with her song titled "Just the Way You Are" which featured
Ragga dee. She took a hiatus in music and returned to finish high school.[5]
She returned into music while she was a sophomore student at university in 2017.[6] She was signed by
Eddy Kenzo’s Big Talent Entertainment label in 2018.[7][8][9] Under Big Talent, Pounds' biggest releases were Tubawe and Wawangula.[10][11]She refused to renew her contract with the label and exited Big Talent Entertainment and started releasing her music as an independent artist in 2019.[12][13] She later teamed up with producer Kuseim and founded Pia Pounds Limited and co-founded the African Bureau of Music(ABM),[2][3] where she released a string of singles and albums like Tupaate and Bitimba.
In 2020, her EP titled Tupaate topped Uganda's hit list chart up-to-date example "Apple Music Top 100 Uganda 2023" , her song "Tupaate" is part of the soundtrack for the Netflix show Young, Famous and African. [14] "Tupaate RMX" (featuring
Eddy Kenzo and
McAfrika) was Trace Muzik "Song of the Year".