P-Square was a Nigerian music duo composed of twin brothers Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye, born 18 November 1981, who co-write and co-produce most of their songs. Noted for their artistic reinvention, musical versatility, and visual presentation, they are widely regarded as one of the most influential African acts of all time and one of the most successful music groups from the continent. They were integral to the evolution of 2000s and 2010s African popular music. The duo was launched into the mainstream recognition following the release of the song "Senorita" in 2003, and later gained recognition after releasing their sophomore album Get Squared in 2005. The success of the album earned them a nomination at the MTV Europe Music Awards for Best African Act in 2006. In 2015, P-Square was awarded Artistes of the Decade at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2015.
After the disbandment of the dancing and singing group they formed in the late 1990s, Peter and Paul subsequently founded P-Square. In 2001, they won a talent show and signed a record deal with Timbuk2 Label where they released their debut album in 2003. They later founded their own label, Square Records, and released the following albums: Get Squared (2005), Gameover (2007), Danger (2009), Invasion (2011) and Double Trouble (2014). The Gameover album, which explored multiple societal themes such as love, regret, assurance and political criticism, reportedly sold over 8 million copies worldwide. It is the only 2000s project from Nigeria to have surpassed 30 million streams on Spotify, and has been considered a timeless body of work by music critics. Some of P-Square's songs include "Personally," "Chop My Money," "Beautiful Onyinye," "Alingo," "E No Easy" "Shekini," "Do Me," "Temptation," "Bring it On," "Testimony," "Bizzy Body," and "Gimme Dat."
In 2011, they signed a record deal with Akon's Konvict Muzik. The duo has been nominated for BET Awards, Soul Train Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, MOBO Awards, and have won KORA Awards, MTV Africa Music Awards, and Channel O Music Video Awards. They were also the first Nigerian acts to peak at top 5 on SNEP, France's official music chart, and top 10 on Ultratop, Belgium's official chart in 2012, with the French version of "E No Easy" featuring Matt Houston. The song was the first Afrobeats summer hit in France.
They have been referred to as the "Best African Group" by Forbes Africa consecutively. They have appeared on the Forbes lists of the 40 most powerful celebrities in Africa. In 2021, the duo reunited after their disbandment in 2017. They returned with the singles "Jaiye (Ihe Geme)" and "Find Somebody" and announced their 100 city reunion tour and their forthcoming album.
History
1981–1999: Childhood and career beginnings The twins Peter Okoye and Paul Okoye, originally from Anambra State, were born on 18 November 1981 in Jos, to Josephine Okoye, a pastor, and Pa Moses Okoye, a businessman. Peter and Paul, together with their siblings: Jude, Mary, Tony, Lilian and Ifeanyi Okoye, were raised Catholics, with Christian values.
They became interested in performing arts while attending St. Murumba College, a Catholic school in Jos. They were involved in the school music and drama club and began singing and dancing, while drawing inspiration from artists like Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, and MC Hammer. Also while in school, they formed an a cappella quartet that eventually morphed into a more pop-oriented dance crew in which they developed choreographed routines. Their artistic talent and precise dance routine soon made them household names in the city of Jos, where they performed at school functions and other occasions.
Inspired by the success of Nigeria's team at the 1996 Summer Olympic in Atlanta, they dabbled in an unsuccessful footballing career at Pepsi Football academy, in Jos. They played alongside Mikel John Obi at the academy, who was in the junior team then. They would later form a music and dancing group called Smooth Criminal in 1997. By 1999, they had added keyboards, bass, drum, and guitar to their skills. Their works include the soundtracks for a number of films like Tobi, Mama Sunday, Moment of Bitterness and Evas River. Despite their parents' hope for them to aim for a career in academics, Peter and Paul remained committed to their music.
They later went to do their diploma programs at the University of Jos. After which they proceeded to University of Abuja for their degree program in 1999 to study business administration.
2000–2004: Breakthrough with Last Nite The Smooth Criminals group disbanded when its members left to various other universities. Subsequently, Peter and Paul formed their own group, variously called "Double P", "P&P", and "Da Pees", until they eventually settled on "P-Square", a name given to them by a friend of theirs called Richard. They later signed a management deal with Bayo Odusami, a seasoned concert promoter. Around the same time, P-Square won a Nigerian talent competition "Grab Da Mic" in 2001, and hence Benson & Hedges sponsored their debut album. Peter stated, "I think it was one hell of an opportunity for us then. We were still in our first year at the University of Abuja in 2001 when we were informed about the competition in Jos. We were already popular in Abuja and bought the form. We came tops out of 38 artistes that participated. We took the first position and eventually represented the Northern Zone in the Abuja final where we won again out of the 22 artistes that took part in that show. At the finals in Lagos, we became the overall winners which made Benson and Hedges offer to launch our album." Their debut studio album Last Nite was released under Timbuk2 Music Label in 2003. Though with a modest success, the album, garnered the duo a nomination for The Most Promising African Group at the KORA Awards 2003 and won the 2003 Amen Award for Best R&B Group.
2005–2006: Mainstream success with Get Squared In May 2005, the duo returned with their sophomore album, Get Squared, released on their own record label Square Records. A breakthrough success, the album spawned several hit singles, which includes, "Bizzy Body," "Temptation," "Omoge Mi," and "Say Your Love." Get Squared was the start of real commercial success for the twins and it became one of the highest-selling albums of 2005. The album's opener, "Story", tells the tale of their life career up till that point, and shows gratitude to God and their fans. It reenacts the traditional African storytelling setting where children gather around an elder and listened intently. "Oga Police", spoke about police brutality from the viewpoint of a young Nigerian. "Temptation" centers on the theme of a flirtatious man. The success of Get Squared earned them a nomination at the 2006 MTV EMA awards for Best African Act. P-Square won 5 awards in one night at the maiden edition of the Headies Awards (then known as the Hip Hop World Awards) in 2006, in the following categories: Best R&B/Pop Album, Album of the Year, Best Music Video, Song of the Year, Artiste of the Year.
2007–2008: Continent-wide success with Gameover In May 2007, P-Square released their third studio album, Gameover. In the album, P-Square embraced a stylistic shifts and a new musical direction that was very remarkable, due to the album's usage of Nigerian rhythms and melodies. It received the most critical commercial reception in comparison to their debut and sophomore albums. The album sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Gameover boasts of several hits like "No One Like You," "Roll It," "Ifunanya," and the lead single "Do Me", which featured vocals from Afro-soul singer Waje. "Do Me" became a massive pop anthem few days after release that clubs, music shows, parties and other fun places won't be lit without it. In the publication of Red Bull editor, Jessica Kariisa, she wrote, "The album's bright and bouncy single 'No One Like You' would go on to service many a wedding reception dancefloor across the continent and diaspora, but it was the sleek bop 'Do Me' that solidified the twins as Afropop stars." Riding a wave of their widespread reception, the duo released an accompanying Game Over video album in 2008, the first of its kind in the industry. The success of the album won them the Best Group at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2008, and were nominated for Artiste of the Year, Best Video, Best Live Performer, and Best R&B. They also won the Best Group award at the 2007 Channel O Music Video award and received the Best Video award for "Do Me". They were also nominated at MOBO Awards for Best African Act in 2008.
2009–2010: Evolution with Danger album In the 2009 CNN documentary on Nigerian music, Christian Purefoy revealed how P-Square had sold multiple arenas across Africa in the late 2000s. He said "...Having conquered Africa, P-Square are now planning a tour in America and Europe. Building on their success in Africa, the Nigerian Artistes are hoping the stage is set to take on the rest of the world."
In September 2009, P-Square released their fourth studio album Danger. It was supported by hits like "E No Easy," featuring J. Martins, "Gimme Dat," "Danger", which interpolated Eminem's "Without Me" and "Possibility" featuring 2Face. In an interview with Busola Afolabi, P-Square talked about the album, they said "For the first time, P-Square did an experiment which is bringing a kind of song that doesn't exist in Africa and we were happy when we heard it was number two in the African top 10 countdown. Also for the first time, we did a collabo with 2Face. Africans demanded for it, so we decided to give it to them. We are now matured, it is not like the "Do me I do you" song, this is more of facing the real life. We tried to portray the African side of women and their pride. So it is the maturity in it that stands it out." The album earned the duo international accolades, including being the first Nigerian artiste to be nominated at the BET Awards in 2010 for Best International Act. They also won the 2010 KORA award for Artiste of the Year, becoming the second Nigerian artiste to win the category since Femi Kuti in 1999. P-Square missed the event due to their tour in London. However, the KORA award plaque and its cash reward of $1M were received by Blaise Compaoré, the President of Burkina Faso at the event; he would later present the award to P-Square at his presidential villa.
In 2010, P-Square embarked on their first American tour. While on the tour they had an international media tour with an American talk show host Wendy Williams. They were asked who they would like to collaborate in America, Peter stated, "...we would love to work with Michael Jackson, we wish he was still alive". They also cited Bobby Brown and MC Hammer as musical inspirations.
2011–2012: The Invasion and international success On 29 July 2011, P-Square released their fifth studio album "The Invasion". The album's theme which focuses on love, wealth, success, and nightlife, is composed of R&B, reggae, hip hop, Europop and contemporary highlife sounds. The album featured guest appearances from Tiwa Savage, Naeto C, Waje, May D, Eva Alordiah, and Muna.
To celebrate the launch of their new album, P-Square hosted the Invasion concert, in collaboration with Flytime Entertainment. The show which held in Lagos was graced by some notable Nigerian personalities. The red carpet at the event included of Lagos State First Lady Abimbola Fashola, Jay Jay Okocha, Kate Henshaw, 9ice, Sound Sultan, Tiwa Savage, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Ikechukwu, Segun Bucknor, Stephanie Coker, AY, Nse Ikpe Etim, Uti Nwachukwu, DJ Jimmy Jatt, Seyi Shay, J. Martins, Waje, Daddy Freeze, Darey, Toolz, Weird MC, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Davido, Muna and Bovi.