Uri (full name Uriel Martínez), a Uruguayan singer-songwriter and producer, quickly positioned himself at the forefront of Uruguay's contemporary pop scene. Raised between Uruguay, Wales, and Canada, Uri initially pursued studies in communications and software engineering before fully committing to music. His debut album Bienvenidos a mi funeral (2023) combined rock influences with urban flair and set the stage for two of his most ambitious 2025 collaborations: first, “Falso Amor,” featuring Puerto Rican hit-maker Guaynaa alongside La Nueva Escuela’s Jona Suárez, Argentine rapper Frijo, and singer Valen Vargas—an international fusion that materialized when he arranged Guaynaa’s visit to Montevideo and orchestrated the video’s viral rollout. The second, “MVD,” united eight emerging Uruguayan artists—including La Deskarga, Lira, Agus Padilla, Valuto, Zanto, Lucauy, and Jotape—blending candombe, trap, funk, skein, and pop in a bold showcase of local talent. Uri described these projects as efforts to harness Uruguay’s “factor shock,” proving that national music can generate its own momentum. A pop enthusiast influenced by the likes of Harry Styles, Tan Biónica, Spinetta, and Calamaro, and shaped by his poet-writer mother, Uri brings a multigenre sensibility and DIY ethos to his art, favoring creative control over commercial formula.
