Over the years, Several music groups have been significant in the growth of the Nigerian music industry, but rifts between members of these iconic groups have led to tense separations.
Some groups in the Nigerian music industry have witnessed breakups leading to serious competition among its members. While some of such breakups were necessary, others left their fans heartbroken.
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Mp3bullet.ng take a look at the groups that have broken up;
P-square
The history of the Nigerian music industry or Music Groups cannot be complete without the P-Square chapter, which started in 2001. The duo of twins Peter and Paul Okoye is practically a reference point in Nigerian urban music and pop culture, and its huge influence extends into many African countries.
Although the group has suffered an off and on rancour before their final separation, until about three years ago, the duo has been up and doing in the music scene both locally and internationally dropping massive hits and shutting down stadiums of about 23,000 capacity in Africa.
Things fell apart when Peter allegedly confronted his twin Paul, and their elder brother and manager Jude for sidelining him in choosing the songs to put out, and that they only selected every song composed by Paul alone.
Both Peter and Paul now have their solo careers with various songs to their credit. Peter now goes by the stage name Mr. P and Paul goes by Rudeboy.
P-Square released six albums in their music career, including Get Squared (2005), Game Over (2007), Danger (2009) and Invasion (2011), Double Trouble(2014).
The Remedies
One of the biggest Nigerian Music Groups that rocked the late 90s and early 2000s were The Remedies, made up of Eddy Remedy, Tony Tetuila and Eedris Abdulkareem.
The group was a force to reckon with, they were one of the groups that defined the style now known as “Naija Hip Hop”.
The Remedies was formed in 1997 and hit songs like “Shakamo” and “Omoge” endeared them to millions of people all over West Africa. The group split up in 1999 when the henchman of the crew, Eedris Abdulkareem decided to launch a solo career.
Eedris Abdulkareem’s solo career started off to a glistening start with the release of 3 successful albums with the Kennis Music label imprint between 2002 and 2004.
His fortunes however took a downturn in 2004 after a fracas with the American rapper 50 cent. His subsequent album “King is Back” was released on his La Crème record label and he is still has a visible presence on the Naija music scene.
Tony Tetuila also did very well on his own with smash hit songs like “Omode meta”, “I’m in love with 2 women” and “My car” which became a street sensation. He has 5 albums to date.
The third member of the group Eddy Remedy was unfortunately not able to kick-start a successful solo career. He has an album “Leave Eddy Alone” to his credit.
Plantashun Boiz
Between the late 90s to early 2000s, Plantashun Boiz housed the trio of Innocent Idibia, aka 2Baba, Chibuzor Orji, aka Faze and as well as Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo better known as Black Face were a household name in the music scene.
During their days as a group, they had several hits but things came to a head when some members of the group decided to pursue individual careers in 2003.
According to how the story goes, 2Baba signed under Kennis Music where he dropped his hit song African Queen which catapulted him to stardom and made him a force to reckon with in Africa and beyond.
Faze on the other hand also made his solo debut with Faze Alone as his first single as a solo artist. Black Face as well dropped a couple of singles.
Within a space of about two years, the three of them had songs and albums doing well out in the industry and radio stations.
2Baba has since gone on to release 7 multiple award-winning albums Face 2 Face (2004), Grass 2 Grace (2006), The Unstoppable (2008), The Unstoppable International Edition in 2010, Away and Beyond(2012), The Ascension(2014), Warriors(2020).
He has also bagged numerous prestigious awards and nominations and become an Icon of Nigerian and African Music all over the world.
Faze has released four albums since- Faze Alone (2004), “Independent” which spawned several hit singles in 2006 and Originality (2008), Refazed(2012).
Since then, 2Baba has grown to become a legend and Faze isn’t doing bad as well. He only drops singles once in a while.
Black face on the other hand has been silent for years now until recently when he called out former label mate 2Baba, for allegedly stealing his song “Let Somebody Love You” which he (2Baba) recorded with international songstress Kelly Bridget.
The Plantashun Boyz collaborated on a reunion album titled “Plan B” in 2007.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM35Au_IYRM
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Style Plus
Styl-Plus (originally STYL) was a gospel and pop music group that formed in 1997 in Abuja. The four founding members were Shifi Emoefe, Tunde Akinsanmi, Yemi Akinwonmi and Lanre Faneyi. In 1998 Lanre Faneyi died, and Zeal Onyecheme joined the group to replace him.
In 2002 Yemi Akinwonmi left the group and the musical band became a trio without adding a new member. Starting 2003, the group had its own record label, STYL-PLUS.
Style Plus gained stardom with their hit single Olufunmi in 2007 and they were known for their crooning love songs.
The trio was even described in some quarters as the Nigerian version of the American RnB group, Boys 2 Men due to their genre of songs.
In February 2006, they released their highly anticipated 11-track debut album Expressions in star-studded launches at Abuja and Lagos that were rumoured to have cost over N10 million (about USD75 000 then), making it possibly the most expensive album launch in Nigerian history.
However, Tunde left style plus few years after to pursue a solo career and since then, not much has been heard from him. The reason for his departure is still unknown.
According to Informationng.com, repeated attempts to get the group to relocate to Lagos was responsible for the breakup of Styl-Plus – some members wanted to move, but others refused.
Shifi and Zeal also haven’t dropped many songs since, leaving their fans to assume that they are done with music and facing other endeavours.
Kush
KUSH was an all-girl music group made up of gospel artist, Lara George, Emem Ema and celebrity photographer, TY Bello, who shot to prominence with their hit song, ‘Let’s Live Together’. The trio met at the University of Lagos where they formed the group but it only lasted a few years.
While the reason behind their split is still unknown, Lara George was quoted to have said; “Music at the time when KUSH started was a very difficult thing to do particularly for three young professionals with so many career options.
It was tough keeping things together at that time because the pressure the financial uncertainty brought took its toll on us as a group and everyone started to drift apart until we were no longer able to keep things going.”
Lara George has since built her career as a gospel musician, Emem on the other hand is now an artiste manager. Incidentally, she now manages Peter Okoye, a member of the defunct Psquare group who now goes by Mr. P. Ty Bello is a celebrity photographer who is doing well in her chosen field. Bello still releases Gospel Songs from time to time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWWXCgZKmg0
Kcee Presh
Kcee Presh made up of Kcee (Kingsley Okonkwo) and Presh (Precious John), came to the spotlight when they won the much-coveted Star Quest prize in 2002.
They were rewarded with the Most Promising Act award that same year. They also won the Best Collaboration, Best Music Comedy Video, Best Akwa Cross Artist (2006), Best South-South Artist (2006) and a host of others during their short stay together.
Although of different backgrounds (Kcee hails from Anambara state while Presh is from Akwa-Ibom and Cross River), Kcee made songs that rocked the Nigerian music scene during their time as a group. They went on to release 5 albums before going their separate ways in 2011.
Kcee however got signed to Five Star Music, a record label owned by his younger brother, E-Money. Kcee hit the music waves with his debut single Limpopo in 2013 which gained him massive followership. He has since helped put his record label at the forefront of the music industry in Nigeria.
Presh on the other hand hasn’t offered much as a solo artist since their split.
Like Kcee, he also got signed to a new record label Eric Many record and released a song “I No Dey Lie” which features Tiwa Savage in 2016. The song didn’t fly as expected and since then, nothing has been heard from him.
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Maintain
The trio of Olu, Tolu and Bamo came to national prominence on the back of hit songs like “I catch cold” and “Nibo la wa gbe lo”. After six albums between 1998 and 2004, the group split up after the exit of Olu in 2005.
Olu Maintain went on to release two albums- “Yahooze/Maintain Reloaded” a successful effort that spawned the mega-hit single, “Yahooze” and Kentro World(2009).
Big Bamo released a well-received album “popotiti” but since seems to have taken a leave from recording music.
Except for occasionally featuring in a few songs Tolu has not had a significant solo career since the breakup of Maintain. The trio has since faded from mainstream music as not much have been heard from them.