Rudeboy is the stage name of the incredible Paul Nonso Okoye, a former member of the multi-award winning R&B duo, P-Square, one of the most popular bands to ever come out of Africa. He was the focus of his own reality TV show in 2015, Dance With Peter, on which dancers from different parts of the world would display their skills and contend for prizes. He is also the founder of the record label, Fire Department Inc.
Okoye was born and raised in Jos, the capital of Plateau State, Nigeria. He adopted the stage name “Rudeboy” while at Secondary School, where he started pursuing music as an extracurricular activity. He and his twin brother, Peter, joined a music and drama club and began singing and dancing, later forming an acapella group with three friends. In 1999, the twins attended a music school to hone their skills on keyboard, drums, bass, and rhythm guitar. They both then went to the University of Abuja to study business administration, and it was there that they formed the band P-Square. In 2001, they won the Grab Da Mic competition that was sponsored by the cigarette brand Benson & Hedges. – winning the competition meant that the company bankrolled one studio album. P-Square were nominated in the Most Promising African Group category at the KORA Awards in 2003, and won the 2003 A.M.E.N. Award for the Best R&B Group. P-Square went on to achieve huge success, and released six studio albums between 2003 and 2017. They split after Peter announced he was leaving, and Paul (as Rudeboy) went solo. His 2019 single, Reason With Me, was the most-viewed YouTube African Music video of that year with 40 million views. As of June 2021 it has now garnered nearly 105 million views.
Rudeboy regularly connects with his millions of fans and followers through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, posting pictures and videos of his life in and around music. He also has a YouTube channel, RudeBoy Official, and an official website, rudeboyofficial.com.