The Nigerian pop duo, P-Square, comprises twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye. Square Records produces and distributes their albums. The duo is known for their smash hits like Bizzy Body, Roll It, Ifunanya, I Love You, etc.
Table of Content hide 1 Biography 2 Career 3 P-Square songs 4 Albums 5 Awards 6 Net worth 7 Family 8 P-Square fight 9 ConclusionBiography
Peter and Paul Okoye were born on November 18, 1981, in Anambra State, Nigeria, to Mrs. Josephine Okoye and Pa Moses Okoye. Their siblings are Jude, Mary, Tony, Lilian, and Ifeanyi Okoye.
They attended St Mulumba Catholic Secondary School, Jos, Plateau State, because it had a music and drama group.
They both used the music and drama club to perfect their singing and dancing abilities, imitating MC Hammer, Bobby Brown, and Michael Jackson songs.
The duo studied Business Administration at the University of Abuja in 1999.
Career
They established the “MMMPP,” an acapella quartet (M Clef, a.k.a. Itemoh; Michael, Melvin, Peter, and Paul). They began break dancing in 1997, inspired by their music idol Michael Jackson, and founded the group Smooth Criminals. M Clef was deleted from the group “MMMPP,” which was eventually shortened to “MMPP.” Their artistic ability and meticulous dance routine quickly became household names in Jos, where they performed at school festivities and other events.
Peter and Paul went back to music school in 1999 to improve their keyboard, drum, bass, and rhythm guitar talents. They composed soundtracks for movies like Tobi, Mama Sunday, Moment of Bitterness, and Evas River.
In 1999, the band disbanded as its members got admission to different universities. Peter and Paul started their own band, which they dubbed “Double P,” “P&P,” and “Da Pees” before settling on “P Square.” Bayo Odusami, nicknamed Howie T, was a seasoned concert producer and the CEO of Adrot Nigeria Limited, was in charge of their management.
P-Square won the Grab Da Mic competition in 2001, and as a result, Benson & Hedges funded their debut album, Last Nite, which was published on the Timbuk2 music label. P-Square was also nominated for the Kora Awards as Most Promising African Group three months after its debut album. They went on to win the Amen Award for Best R&B Group in 2003.
Get Squared, their second album was released in 2005 on their label, Square Records. TJoe Enterprises marketed the album across the country while they were still handled by Howie T of Adrot Nigeria Limited. For four weeks, the video for the second album remained at the top of the MTV Base list.
Ginuwine, Sean Paul, and Akon were among the performers who performed with the group.
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Game Over, their best-selling album, was released late in 2007 and sold eight million copies worldwide.
Danger, P-Square’s fourth studio album, was released in 2009. Collaborations with 2 Face Idibia, J Martins, and Frenzy appear on the album. The first single, Danger, is a hip-hop track with cutting synths and a frog bass baseline that sounds like something Eminem would do. The presence of clowns and staggered motions in front of the camera, reminiscent of Eminem’s funny videos, confirms this. They’re also noted for their striking similarity to Usher Raymond, an American R&B musician.
P-Square released a single track titled Eje Ajo featuring top American artist TI on August 29, 2014, which was produced and co-written by VTEK. The official video for Eje Ajo featuring TI was also released on August 29, 2014, on TV stations, radio stations, and web blogs.
P-Square released their sixth studio album, Double Trouble, on September 14, 2014. They received Range Rover SUVs from Globacom as ambassadors on October 8, 2015, in exchange for their sponsorship of the #DanceWithPeter TV Radio entertainment program. Dancers worldwide competed for prizes on this program which brings together dancers from all over the world.
P-Square songs
The duo has released several hit songs. Some of which are:
- Beautiful Onyinye
- Collabo
- Chop My Money
- Personally
- Do Me
- Roll It
- Shekini
- No One Like You
- Alingo
- Taste The Money
- Bring It On
- E No Easy
- Temptation
- Bizzy Body
- Ifunanya
- I Love You
- More Than a Friend
- Gimme Dat
- Testimony
- Bank Alert
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Albums
- Last Nite (2003)
- Get Squared (2005)
- Game Over (2007)
- Danger (2009)
- The Invasion (2011)
- Greatest Hits (2013)
- Double Trouble (2014)
- Ejeajo Ep (2014)
- Reactivated (2021)
Awards
P-Square has won several awards both locally and internationally. They have been nominated for 18 awards and have won 17 of them. The duo has won the Headies five times, Citi Mag Awards once, Nigeria Music Awards seven times, Channel O Music Video Awards five times, BET Awards three times, Ghana Music Awards six times, and MTV Europe Music Awards four times.
Net worth
The duo P-Square is one of the wealthiest musicians in Nigeria. They have an estimated net worth of N62.25 billion ($150m).
Family
Peter Okoye and his longtime girlfriend, Titilola Loretta Omotayo, got engaged after seven years of dating. The couple has a boy named Cameron and a daughter named Aliona. They married in a traditional ceremony at The Ark in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria, on November 17, 2013. Aliko Dangote, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kate Henshaw, Genevieve Nnaji, Rukky Sanda, Folorunsho Alakija, May D, Toke Makinwa, Dr SID, Don Jazzy, and Karen Igho were among the celebrities who attended the wedding.
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While attending the University of Abuja in 2004, Paul Okoye met Anita Isama. Andre, their son, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, on April 11, 2013. On Saturday, March 22, 2014, the pair married at the Aztech Arcum Events Centre in Port Harcourt. The couple also has twin children, a boy, and a girl.
P-Square fight
The two brothers, Peter and Paul Okoye, previously split up in 2016, reportedly over a disagreement over the role of their elder brother, Jude, as their manager. However, they were able to mend fences and even released two new songs together in early 2021.
Unfortunately, the reconciliation was short-lived, as Peter reportedly sent a termination letter to his brother, requesting that they no longer work together. Peter stated that his brother was generally unhelpful when it came to group things and that he had even gone so far as to insult his wife and children on social media. He demanded that their impending US tour be cancelled.
The pair split and decided to release songs individually. They changed their name. Paul chose the stage name Rudeboy while Peter was Mr P. The pair reconciled once more in 2021 and released an album together.
Conclusion
They are a gifted group and are one of Africa’s best. They conquered the borders of African music and travelled the globe, performing in front of foreign audiences.
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