Innocent Ujah Idibia  Listen MON(born 18 September 1975), known by his stage name 2Baba, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Noted for his vocal range, lyrical depth, and longevity, he is widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest musicians of all time. He is most influential for the rise in popularity of Nigerian pop music in the 2000s, and his solo debut album Face2Face (with the smash hit “African Queen”) ushered in a new wave of awareness and reverence for Nigerian music amongst Africans on the continent and in diaspora. Prior to July 2014, he went by the stage name 2face Idibia. 2Baba is the first winner of MTV EMA Best African Act category in 2005, and is one of the most awarded Nigerian musicians in history.

In 2019, 2Baba, in collaboration with other well-known artistes like Cohbams Asuquo and Timi Dakolo, released a song for awareness of the rights of children. He was part of a boys group called Plantashun Boiz, under God Father Production. Innocent Ujah Idibia was born in Jos. He is from the Idoma ethnic group in the southern part of Benue State, in central Nigeria.

He attended Mount Saint Gabriel’s Secondary School in Makurdi, Benue State. Tuface enrolled at the Institute of Management & Technology, Enugu (IMT), where he did his preliminary National Diploma course in Business Administration and management. While attending IMT, Idibia (then known as Lord Elly) performed at school-organised shows and parties, as well as other regional schools such as the University of Nigeria and Enugu State University of Science & Technology. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue his music career. While attending IMT, 2face Idibia started composing and singing jingles at the GB Fan Club at Enugu State Broadcasting Services (ESBS) in 1996.

Also in 1996, he adopted the stage name “2Face” (Tuface). He cited the reason as “trying to demarcate my personal life from my business life”. In 2016, he officially changed his name from Tuface to 2Baba. He moved to Lagos and started performing with fellow Benue singer Blackface Naija. He met Blackface during his secondary school education.  With Blackface (Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo) and with musician Faze (Chibuzor Orji), he went on to form the trio band called Plantashun Boiz.

Plantashun Boiz released two successful albums: Body and Soul (2000) and Sold Out (2003) under Nelson Brown’s label (Dove Records) before disbanding in 2004. Relations were marred for many years during which the band broke up and its members started their solo careers. Long after the break-up known as the “Faze vs Tuface” beef, the band came back together in 2007 to record a third and final album entitled Plan B (2007).

On numerous occasions, BlackFace claimed 2Baba was performing songs co-written by both of them and not remitting revenues to him. After a long legal and media battle, the matter was finally laid to rest amicably.

After the disbandment of Plantashun Boyz in 2004, all band members sought separate musical careers. 2Baba released his debut solo album Face 2 Face (2004), which has been listed by many publications as the greatest Nigerian debut album of the 21st Century by a solo artist. The album spurned hits like “Nfana Ibaga”, “Ole”, and “African Queen” (which has been touted as one of the biggest hits to come out of Africa and served as the soundtrack to the 2006 Hollywood movie Phat Girlz). Following the release of his debut album, he released his second album Grass 2 Grace in 2006, which contained hits like “One Love”, “True Love, “4 Instance”.

2Baba released an experimental album in 2009 called The Unstoppable which includes the single “Enter the Place”. Problems with album distribution in 2007 caused a shift of the release date of the album from 2008 to early 2009. In 2010, 2Baba released an “International Edition” of the same album with 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 The Unstoppable album. The international edition of the album won two awards at the 2010 SoundCity Music Video Awards. 2Baba 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.