The news and social media go frenzy with the return of P Square, one of the biggest music groups that emerged from Nigeria and Africa. The reaction is expected because the twin of Okoye brothers (Peter and Paul) dominated the entertainment industry for nearly 15 years, winning awards and dishing out tunes after tunes to the delight of music lovers.

Why did they get separated and who are they?

Let me take you through this journey

Evolution of P Square

Psquare is the music duo consisting of the twin brothers, Peter and Paul Okoye

The Okoye twins were born on 18 November 1981 in Anambra state, Nigeria. Their parents are Mrs Josephine Okoye and Pa Moses Okoye. The twin siblings are Jude, Mary, Tony, Lilian and Ifeanyi Okoye. Peter and Paul started a dance group MMMPP ((M Clef Itemoh, Michael, Melvin, Peter and Paul). Drawing inspiration from their music idol Michael Jackson, they began break dancing, forming the group called “Smooth Criminals” in 1997.



M Clef was dropped from the group “MMMPP” which later changed to “MMPP”. 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. In pursuit of tertiary education, they applied to University of Abuja to study business administration.

The Smooth Criminals was 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 “Psquare”. In 2001, P-Square won the “Grab Da Mic” competition, and hence Benson & Hedges sponsored their debut album, titled “Last nite”

Three months after the release of their debut album, P-Square was nominated as “Most Promising African Group” in the Kora Awards. They eventually won the 2003 Amen Award for “Best R&B Group”. In 2005, they released their second album, Get Squared under their own label, Square Records. In 2007, they released their bestselling album so far, Game Over, which sold 8 million copies worldwide.



On 4 April 2010, Psquare were named the Artist of the Year at the Kora Awards and they received a sum of $1 million. On 8 October 2015 P-Square signed a mouth-watering Globacom ambassador deal with Range Rover SUVs. P square instantly became a multimillion-dollar international brand churning out hits after hits, had duets with established acts like Tuface Idibia, Don Jazzy, international acts like Ginuwine, Sean Paul, Akon, Rick Ross, and T.I.

Peter Okoye got married to his long-time girlfriend, Titilola Loretta Omotayo in November 2013 while Paul Okoye got married to Anita Isama in March 2014. In January 2014, the Okoye brothers bought mansions next door to one another in Atlanta. Georgia USA.

The break-up of Psquare

“P-Square rules the world but I own the world. So, I’m the boss. I push them out because they are the brand, while I own and run the brand”.

These are exact words from Jude Okoye, the senior brother of the twins that contributed among other reasons leading to the disbandment of Psquare.



The role of Jude that served alternatively as the video producer, songwriter and the manager were not clearly defined in the terms and agreements, hence he joined in the sharing of the proceeds equally, an act Peter frowned at.

Peter’s displeasure was succinctly revealed in an interview granted by Psquare’s first manager Bayo Odusanmi also known as Howie T, he said Peter Okoye confided in him that Jude Okoye is the problem with the group. “He told me that in a normal setting, a manager is supposed to be their employee and not the other way around, but Jude always uses his influence as their elder brother to boss over them. He also said managers collect between 15 – 25 % of an artist’s income but in their case, they share everything equally and he’s not happy with that sharing formula”. Peter attempted to fire Jude but was rebuffed by Paul.

The duo also had differences in opinion regarding what Peter perceived as a lop-sidedness in individual input of songs which was getting featured on their joint albums with Paul getting a lion share of his songs selected. This led to Peter refusing to do anything associated with the name “P-Square” for weeks.



The first casualty of the feud happened on 24 February, 2016. One of the biggest companies that supports entertainment in Nigeria, Globacom decided not to renew its ambassadorship deal with the group. This was as a result of a fallout between the company’s representatives and Peter, one half of the P-Square twins during the grand finale of the Dance with Peter talent hunt show.

On September 25, 2017, after several attempts to reconcile the feuding parties failed, the group was disbanded when Peter sent a termination letter to their lawyer, Festus Keyamo. The musical duo once known as Psquare became two separate artists, independent of each other. Peter adopted the stage name ‘Mr P’ while Paul became known as ‘Rudeboy.’ A lawyer was involved to help split their fortune as they were both involved in joint ventures over the prior years. Not only did the separation affect their careers, it also affected their personal lives.

Rudeboy and Mr P

In 2017, both band members sought separate musical careers. Paul, now known as Rudeboy, released his debut solo tracks titled ‘Fire Fire’ and ‘Nkenji Keke’. His song “Reason with me” generated the highest views on YouTube in Africa in 2019. Paul who is married to Anita Isama had three children Andre and twins but in August 2021, his wife filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences with him.

Peter began releasing music as a solo artist using the name Mr P after the split. He revealed the name was functional even while Psquare existed. His debut studio album “The Prodigal” was released in April 2021. He is known for songs “Just like that”, “Follow my lead”, and more. While both were busy pushing their crafts, it was obvious that the magic behind Psquare was gone, they could not recreate it individually again.

Psquare Reunion

The reunion is more of economic and relevance in the industry rather than sentiments or concerns for their fans

Signs of reunion was in the offing when Peter went to the United State of America to visit his twin brothers’ family, took them on a shopping spree amidst the break up saga between Paul and his estranged wife Anita Isima. Paul’s kids had the fun of their lives as their uncle got them beautiful toys, clothes, and jewellery. Immediately both started following each other on Instagram.



They settled their four-year rift through a reconciliation by their elder brother Jude Okoye, their colleague; J Martins, and Paul’s lawyer, Somadina Eugene Okorie of Senocean Law Practice.

Challenges ahead

Now they are back, Psquare fans are thirsty for new vibes and beats that will make the rocking to new sounds and vibes. They need to move from archaic family business models, learn from the mistakes of the past, define each role most especially issues that concern Jude, their brother.

In the last four years, the music scenes have changed dramatically with new young and vibrant artists like Omah Lay, Bella Shmurda, Rema, Burna Boy, Davido, Mayorkun, Zlatan Ibile, Buju, Wizkid, Ayra Starr dictating the pace. Psquare as a group had few duets with Nigerian artists like Don Jazzy, Phyno, Tuface, but in order to step up their game, they will need to do more duets with these new kids on the block to be relevant in the music industry.

Psquare will need to infuse afro beats, Amapiano, the new beat from South African and from the old traditional hip hop that was dominating in the past.

Time will tell if the relevance of Psquare’s reunion is going to be a hit or a miss.

https://olumuyiwa.com.ng/2021/11/24/psquares-reunion-a-hit-or-miss-challenges-ahead/

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