Innocent Idibia was born on 18 September 1975 in Jos, the Capital of Plateau State, Nigeria to the family of Michael and Rose Idibia. He is from Benue State, in Central Nigeria and from the Idoma ethnic group. Of a family of four, Innocent is the second. Innocent's father, Mr. Michael Idibia is an alumnus of Kansas State University, USA, and retired from the Ministry of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State. He lost his dad on 23 August, 2014 to prostate cancer.
2face had his primary school in Benue State. Thereafter, he attended St. Gabriel's Secondary School in Markurdi, the Capital of Benue State. With the zeal for education, he went further to tertiary institution by attending Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) at Enugu, Nigeria where he did his preliminary National Diploma course in business management and administration. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue his music career.
2face Idibia started his music career while he was in tertiary institution. While in IMT, he was composing and singing jingles in the famous radio station show GB fan club in Enugu State Broadcasting Services (ESBS). In 1996, he adopted the stage name "2face".
In that same year, he relocated to Lagos and started performing with rapper Blackface( Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo) . They met each other while at IMT. 2face, Blackface and Faze (Chibuzor Oji) formed the band Plantashun Boiz.
Plantashun Boiz released two albums: "Body and Soul" in 2000, and "Sold Out" in 2003 under the Nelson Brown's owned Label (Dove records) before a break-up in 2004. In 2007 the band came together for the purpose of releasing a third and final album entitled Plan B.
After the disbandment in 2004, 2face went solo and released his solo album "Face 2 Face", which established him as a solo artist to look out for. After two years, he released yet another album "Grass 2 Grace". He is the founder of Hypertek Entertainment.
One of his hit song "African Queen" was used as soundtrack in an international film titled Phat Girlz.
He released a promotion album in 2008 called The Unstoppable releasing the single "Enter the Place". Problems with album distribution in 2007 caused as shift of the release date of the album from 2008 to early 2009. In 2010, 2face released an "international edition" of the same under the title The Unstoppable International Edition making him the first Nigerian artist to have an appropriately priced international album. 2face released two more singles from the international version of his Unstoppable album. The international edition of the album won two awards at the 2010 SoundCity Music Video Awards. He also won the Channel O Music Video Awards Best African Western award and the MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Male and Artist of the year.
Upon leaving the music label Kennis Music, he set up his own record label known as Hypertek Entertainment. He is part of the Sony All African One8 Project alongside seven other musicians across Africa recording a single with R. Kelly and Prince Lee titled "Hands Across the World". He is the first non-Liberian to become an honorary member of the Liberian music society in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the growth of music in Africa. He has been named Red cross ambassador society of Nigeria. 2face has several collaborations all over the globe, giving his collaborators the opportunity to win an awards for each duet such as street credibility by 9ice, possibility by p-square and lots more. He is adored by his colleagues and every entertainer in Nigeria music industry as a role model. 2face and heavy weight American Rapper Jay Z met in NYC 2014.
2face Idibia has also been an ambassador for quite a number of brands including Guinness, Nigerian Breweries etc. He is also the brand ambassador for National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
He believes that we must surrender our lives to God irrespective of our religious beliefs
2face Idibia believes in non violence, free and fair elections. He even went ahead to releasing a video campaigning against violence in Nigeria's elections.
If nobody talks about you; either good or bad, then you are nobody.
Quotations:
As we go through life,we all suffer betrayals.Even Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples Judas Iscariot.I have been betrayed but I won't want to comment about it.
It's a path so painful that I don't even want to go there.Just like betrayals,I have also suffered heartbreak on account of a woman.
Again,it's better to let sleeping dogs lie.Let me just say that love is a strong force which can conquer anybody,even if you are Tuface. It happened to me long ago.
I have loved and have been loved.When it comes to love,I am as Innocent as my name Innocent Idibia.I have never come across a virgin all my life.The only person I have disvirgined is me.Myself.The fact that I have not come across a virgin does not mean there are no virgins.What I am saying is that I have never jammed a virgin.I don't know what I will do the day I come across a virgin.Will I marry her?
The truth is marriage is not in my plans.I will never marry.Let me put it that bluntly.I don't want to marry.I am angry.
He is mostly described by his humble nature
Physical Characteristics: He is tall, slim, and chocolate in colour
Quotes from others about the person
Toni Payne: "2face Idibia is without a doubt one of my favorite African music acts. He is like super duper talented and I have followed his music career for well over a decade. He not only improved on his craft during this timeframe but like a fine wine, it seems he gets better with age. He is not only talented but also very charismatic, like if you have never heard of 2face, I suggest you get familiar. He has won tones of awards from MTV to Mobo and the list goes on and one. There are days that I relax and go through the extensive music catalog of this African mega star and each time, every song feels so brand new. His songs are totally evergreen".
He is married, and has six children with three women
