Nigerian duo P Square, Big Boys, Big Deals, Big Dreams
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| P-Suare & Ross |
In this part of the world, there is a wide, blurred gap between underground acts and those in the A-List category. The setting is such that unsigned acts struggle to even get their demos played on radio. Plus, there is an accompanying pain of staying irrelevant as a yet-to-be-signed act for a very long time.
Underground acts always watch from afar, almost with a show of life in the fast-lane and how-sweet-it-will-sound while still being irrelevant. Half of the time, they never get to experience real mainstream status and how well the big boys and girls live. It's a tough environment out here.
The features of persevering and keeping hope alive as an underground act often include being stripped of everything you've put together over the years or being taken for granted by a not-so-qualified producer who doesn't have the slightest clue what the business of music is all about.
So when, through an artist's hard work and persistence, he is able to penetrate into mainstream appreciation, it is important that the hustle that led him to the Promised Land must be protected or at least revered. Some respect this creed, others don't.
Nigerian music duo P Square is one of the continent's finest pair of musicians, who are protecting the years of hard work that got them into the top core of the continent's most respected acts.
Recently collaborating with Maybach Music boss Rick Ross and fellow African-American Akon on songs off their current album 'The Invasion' to wild global reviews, there is certainly no stopping them, as they take the competition to their contemporaries.
The duo, made up of twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye, is Nigeria's biggest and most successful musical duo of the past decade, winning multiple awards and being nominated by a good number of award schemes domestically and internationally.
P Square's consistency and sense of force over the years has endeared them to a very large following that is almost becoming cult-like. Across the continent, and in most parts of the world, they sell out shows, command a lot of local presence, and are able to sell thousands of records apart from the ready-made sales in Nigeria - a rare occurrence in the life of an African musician.
'The Invasion', a solid album made up of beautifully-calculated and well-composed songs produced with a global audience in mind, has proven to be filled with well thought-out material.
'Chop my Money', a fast, up-tempo song off the album, is already topping the charts in most parts of the continent. The song and P Square's ratings were both refreshed by the collaboration of Senegalese-born American singer Akon on it, which led to a remix version.
The union with Akon was the result of the duo signing with his Konvict Muzik label in a deal that will see P Square and other Nigerian acts Wizkid and Tuface acting as representatives of Akon's label in Africa. P Square thus joins other international acts like Brick and Lace, T-Pain, and Lady Gaga who are also part of the Konvict Muzik family.
And just when the collaboration with Akon became the talk of the town, a video of a remixed version of their 'Beautiful Onyinye' track - also from the current album - featuring hip hop heavyweight Rick Ross started making waves. Social media networks buzzed with intense blitz about how awesome the video was.
The idea to have Ross, who is considered a modern day hip hop class act, chant a few lines on a track that had its own beauty worked a lot of magic, and the video has remained one of the most watched online.
For most African acts, this is the farthest and highest you can go.
However, the duo still shows no signs of letting up. They are clearly interested in spreading their wings, and have also signed a strategic deal with Universal Music Group of South Africa in an agreement that will see the music company handle P Square's digital and CD sales all over the world.
The deal reportedly 'covers P-Square's past albums and DVDs, including, Game Over, their 2007 album' which sold millions of copies worldwide.
'It's a great pleasure and excitement to announce that from today onwards P Square is signing to Universal music', The New Age newspaper quotes executive director at Universal Music SA, Lindelani Mkhize as saying.
'This is a platform that will allow our fans to get our music as it is released, anywhere you are if P-Square says our album is coming out ... you'll be able to get it', said Peter Okoye.
From very humble beginnings, P Square has gradually matured into the duo every investor interested in music as a commercial venture would want to work with.
Through a lot of hard work, the duo has almost become synonymous with success. Their 2009 album 'Danger', for instance, sold some one million copies in just eight days after official release. That was a huge figure.
P Square started off as dancers during their school days, where they formed a group that mainly mimicked the steps of other iconic dancers like Michael Jackson and MC Hammer.
The twin brothers later found music a worthy experiment, and got their breakthrough with the 2003 album 'Last Night'. The album made P Square an instant household name in Nigeria, and in Africa. Other albums like 'Get Squared' (2005), 'Game Over' (2007), and 'Danger' have followed.
A talented duo with very danceable songs to their credit - the type most of their fans have gotten used to - P Square's line of music usually focuses on the more afro-centric kind that combines Western and African rhythms to create a fine tapestry of eclectic, soulful, yet hard-hitting drum patterns, chord progressions, and lyrics of sampled songs.
The end result usually is a carefully-created electronic hook or rhythm, with a feel that can only be awesome, cutting across various age, gender, and geographical boundaries, hence their huge popularity base across the world.
