The story of modern Nigerian Pop isn’t complete without P-Square. After spending their teenage years in Jos developing their artistry and performance skills to near perfection, throughout the 2000s and the following decade they launched an unprecedented package into the stratosphere of African and global music. The quartet of ‘Get Squared,’ ‘Game Over,’ ‘Danger’ and ‘Invasion’ unarguably constructs one of Afropop’s album runs, blending their R&B base into outlying Pop forms. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by P-SQUARE (@psquareworld)

Ever since their very public breakup as brothers and business partners, every solo output coming from Rudeboy and Mr. P, fans clamoured for their reunion. The early indications of a comeback were visible sometime in mid-2021, when both superstars seemingly popped up randomly in the same locations. Later on it appeared more deliberate, meeting up to discuss and then in November, P-Square was born again, expectedly now stronger having gone through four years of developing their individual sounds respectively. 

With a proposed hundred-city global tour forthcoming later this year, today P-Square officially release their first two-pack single since getting back together. The pair’s sonic philosophy is echoed in “Jaiye (Ihe Neme)” and “Find Somebody,” both songs respectively falling into their signature party blockbusters and emotive love riddims. It’s written and produced by them, which is quite a feat considering how fresh they come across. 

“Jaiye” blends Amapiano drums with glittering synths, with its sped-up pace reflecting a room-filling nature. Having been on tour since last year, the loud, warm reception of their many fans could only have inspired a song like this. Their vocals are more distinct than ever, Paul’s slightly husky hue finely complemented by Peter’s more sing-songy tone. Cheeky one-liners delivered in Igbo are paired with pidgin-inflected lyrics elsewhere, proving that the iconic twins haven’t lost their understanding of creating a song with massive hit potential. 

A TG Omori-directed visual for “Jaiye” accompanied the new release. It depicts P-Square in a suave style which advances their roadman gear from years past, the leather jackets traded for furry snow coats. Omori’s trademark use of bodies and colour works into the cinematic vision of the song, which on first listen prompts an image of the superstars urging a crowd to get grooving. This is how you stage a comeback. 

Listen to “Find Somebody” below.

Featured image credits/Youtube

ICYMI: Here are our best new artists for June 2022