P-Square

Composed of identical twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye, P-Square were an award-winning Nigerian duo whose energetic, Afrobeats-infused brand of R&B launched them to fame in the early aughts. The group’s inception dates back to their days in the music and drama club at St. Murumba Secondary School in Jos, where they began performing live inspired by the likes of Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, and MC Hammer. Shortly after, the pair of siblings joined an acapella quartet and started breakdancing under the name Smooth Criminals in 1997. They went back to music school in 1999 and quickly established themselves as a songwriting powerhouse, devoting their time to writing film soundtracks for movies such as Mama Sunday, Moment of Bitterness, and Tobi. Following a victory at the Grab Da Mic music competition in 2001, the Okoye brothers earned a sponsorship from Benson & Hedges to record Last Nite (2003), their studio debut. Produced with the help of brother Jude Engees Okoye, the album earned them a nomination for Most Promising African Group at the Kora Awards and helped them win the 2003 Amen Award for Best R&B Group. The group had their breakthrough moment in 2005 with the release of Get Squared, which spawned the hit singles “Bizzy Body” and “Oga Police,” and obtained platinum certification after selling over 5 million copies. What followed was an impressive streak of platinum-winning albums, with Game Over (2007) and Danger (2009) selling over 8 and 9 million copies worldwide, respectively. In 2011, they returned with the star-studded The Invasion, which featured guest appearances by Akon, Rick Ross, and Tiwa Savage, and won Album of the Year and Best R&B/Pop Album at the 2012 Headies. Preceded by the singles “Alingo,” “Personally,” and the T.I. collaborative track “Ejeajo,” sixth album Double Trouble saw the light of day in 2014 and would be the duo’s final LP before going their separate ways in 2016.