Biography of Peter and Paul Okoye
Peter and Paul Okoye are identical twins, known popularly by their stage name Psquare. They hail from Ifite Dunu, Anambra state but were born on the 18th of November 1981 and raised in Jos, Plateau State where their parents resided until death.
They are recording artists, dancers and performers. They hail from quite a large family of two girls and five boys. They began their primary education in St. Murumba catholic school in Jos where they were actively involved in singing, dancing and miming to songs by MC Hammer, Bobby Brown and Michael Jackson in their school’s music and drama groups.
In 1997, they formed an acapella group called MMMPP which was gotten from the fist letter of each of the names of the group members: Peter, Paul, Mclef, Michael and Melvin and began break dancing.
They performed so well in the city of Jos at school functions and other social events that, they became popular and a household name.
In 1999, Psquare returned to music school to develop their skills on musical instruments and later proceeded to the University of Abuja to study business administration.
At this sage, their group had disbanded as other members secured admission into other tertiary institutions and proceeded to further their studies.
They began to perform alone while in the university under new identities such as P&P, Double P, Da Pees until they settled for Psquare; they were then managed by Bayo Odusami also known as Howie, who at that time was a seasoned concert promoter and the CEO of Adro Nigeria Limited before their older brother took over their management in the late ninety’s when they moved to Lagos to fully pursue their career.
They have attributed their success to their late mother who supported their decision to become entertainers and to their elder brother Jude Okoye who sold his first car to finance some of their early projects and has efficiently managed them over the years.
In 2001, the duo won the ‘Grab Da Mic’ competition which got Benson & hedges to sponsor their first studio album which was titled ‘Last Nite’ and was released under timbuk2 music label. In 2005, they released their second album ’Get Squared’ under their own label ‘Square Records’.
In 2007, they released their most successful album ‘Game Over’ which sold about 8 million copies worldwide. Their fourth studio album was released in 2009; it was titled ‘Danger’.
In 2011, they released their fifth studio album ‘Invasion’ which was effortlessly a successful album because they had created a niche through hard work and this earned them loyal fans.
They also signed a record deal with Akon’s convict music label in 2011. The following year, they signed a record distribution deal with universal music, South Africa.
On the 29th of August 2014, they released a single that featured top American rap artist ‘T.I’ which was titled Eje ajo and produced by VTEK.
They later released ‘Double Trouble’ their 6th studio album on the 14th of September.
Psquare is noted for excellent delivery on stage, while Paul does most of the singing, Peter is an extra ordinary dancer.
This combination always makes it easy for the duo to deliver an energetic and eccentric performance. They have a massive fan base all over Africa and in some parts of Europe.
They have performed with other international artists like Akon, Ginuwine and Sean Paul. They have also contributed to the growth of other artistes like Waje and Cynthia Morgan who is signed under Jude OKoye’s Northside Entertainment, MunoSings who is an artist under Paul Okoye and Dj Switch who is signed under Peter Okoye’s PClassic , Mr MayD was also signed under them and collaborated with them and Akon on the hit single ‘Chop My Money’.
Peter Okoye of Psquare married his long-time girlfriend, Lola Loretta Omotayo a marketing representative who already had a son ,Cameron Okoye and a daughter Aliona Okoye for him, on the 17th of November 2013 in Lekki, Lagos while Paul Okoye married his girlfriend, Anita whom he met way back in the University of Abuja on the 22nd of march 2014 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Both weddings were attended by public figures and entertainers from all walks of the industry.
After the death of their mother, the duo began to have squabbles which grew bitter in 2016 after their father too had passed on.
In 2016, Peter took to his twitter handle to announce that he no longer had anything to do with Psquare and his elder brother Jude Okoye and would love to be referred to as MR P. he also announced his own music label P Classic records and a new manager.
People actually regarded it as a publicity stunt until Peter packed out of their family mansion and moved into Banana Island with his immediate family.
The public speculated that their wives were behind their squabbles but they later came out to refute the claim as Peter further opened up on their issues.
Personally, I believe their issues stemmed from a lack of proper structuring, as they ran their business like a family not a business entity.
They later reconciled and released a single’ Bank Alert’ (2016) and a second single ‘Nobody Ugly’ in 2017. They are still being managed by their brother Jude.
Discography of of PSquare
Last Night released in 2003
Get Squared released in 200
Game Over released in 2007
Danger released in 2009
The Invasion released in 2011
Double Trouble released in 2014
Singles
E no Easy featuring J Marins 2009
Positif Matt featuring PSquare 2012
Chop my Money featuring Akon and May D 2012
Beautiful Onyinye featuring Rick Ross 2012
Personally 2013
Eje ajo featuring T.I 2014
Bring it on featuring Dave Scott 2015
Getting Down (Mokobe featuring Psquare) 2015
Songs And Collaborations of PSquare
PSquare has collaborated with almost every big artiste in Nigeria and Africa. Because of their huge fan base, collaboration with them requires less publicity and is likely to get massive plays.
They have collaborated with Phyno, J martins, awilo longoma, Diamond Platnumz, May D, Don Jazzy and others and their best singles include: No one like you, Alingo, Do me featuring Waje, E no easy, Chop my money remix featuring Akon and May D, Collabo featuring Don Jazzy, Personally, I love you, Ifunanya and Possibility featuring 2baba idibia.
Deals, Endorsements And Net Worth of PSquare
Psquare used to be one of Globacom’s longest standing ambassadors before the deal was terminated in 2016. The deal was worth millions of naira and globacom was one of the sponsors for Peter’s dance show ‘Dance with Peter’.
On the 8th of October 2015, they received Range Rover SUVs from glo for their sponsorship of the dance show. They had a deal with skol beer in congo and Peter currently serves as an ambassador for Olympic milk, Juice and aqua fresh bottled water. Their estimated net worth is $128 million.
Awards of PSquare
The Headies Awards 2006 – Best R&B/POP Album; Album of the year; Best music video; Song of the year; Artiste of the Year
City Magazine 9TH Awards Show 2006 – Best Hip Hop Group
Nigeria Music Awards 2006 – Album of the year, Music video of the year
Channel O music Awards 2007 – Beat Duo
Channel O music Awards 2008 – Best Duo; Video of the year
MTV Africa Music Awards 2008 – Best Group;
Channel O music Awards 20012 – Most Gifted Group; Most Gifted west African Video
MTV Africa Music Awards 2009 – Best Group
KORA Awards 2010 – Artiste of the year
Lil Perry Productions 2010 – Producer of the year
Nominations of PSquare
KORA Awrds2003 – Most promising African group
MOBO Awards 2006 – Best African Act
MOBO Awards 2008 – Best African Act
MOBO AWARDS 2010 – Best African Act
MOBO AWARDS 2012 – Best African Act
MTV Africa Music Awards 2008 – Artist of the year; best R&B; Best video
MTV Africa Music Awards 2009 – Best live performance
BET Awards 2010 – Best International Act
MTV Europe Awards 2013 – Best African Act
Soul Train Music Awards 2013 – Best International Performance
MTV Europe Awards 2015 – Artist of the decade; Best Group
Channel O Music Awards 2013 – Most gifted video of the year
Ghana Music Awards 2013 – African Artiste Of The year
Ghana Music Awards 2014 – African Artiste of The Year
MTV Africa Music Awards 2014 – Best group; Artist of the year; Song of the year