Bracket are a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

afropop and R&B music duo composed of Obumneme Ali a.k.a. "Smash" and Nwachukwu Ozioko a.k.a. "Vast". Bracket started as a three-man music group before a member called Bistop dropped out. The duo are currently signed to Ape Planet and are best known for releasing hit singles like "Happy Day", "Yori-Yori" and "Ada Owerri" which received several positive reviews and airplay.

Background

Vast and Smash grew up in

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively re ...

Enugu State Enugu State ( ig, Ȯra Enugu) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the south, and Anambra State to the west. T ...

, where they used to attend campus shows while growing up. Vast has a diploma and a degree in

Mass Communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

from the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu and the

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Eastern part of Nigeria. Founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955 and formally opened on 7 October 1960, the University of Nigeria has thr ...

respectively while Smash has a diploma in Social Works and a degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

after graduating from the

, Nsukka. The history of how the group began has been mixed in several stories and allegations. Bistop, a former member of the group claims to be the pioneer of the group after meeting Vast in a barbing salon back in 1999. They performed and attended several shows under a name called "Furious BV". In a press release, he said he left the group as a result of a collaborative effort of a former associate producer together with Vast and Smash. He also went on to claim that Smash was not a member of the group until 2003 after he met Smash through a friend.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Happy Day'' (2006) * ''Least Expected'' (2009) * ''Cupid Stories'' (2011) * ''Alive'' (2015)

Awards and nominations

In 2012, Bracket received an honorary award from the city of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

at the

African American Museum in Philadelphia The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans. Opened during the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, th ...

. Some of their awards include:

References

{{authority control Musical groups established in 1999 21st-century Nigerian male singers Musical groups from Enugu Nigerian boy bands Living people Igbo musical groups Nigerian hip hop singers Nigerian contemporary R&B musical groups Nigerian musical duos University of Nigeria alumni Year of birth missing (living people)