It has been an intense couple of weeks for Africa’s famous duo- Psquare as both parties have thrown daggers at each other through various media platforms.
However, it seems after a decade of providing a fantastic musical experience for its fans, Psquare is saying goodbye- at least from what Peter Okoye, who has been a focal point in this whole controversy told the NET newspapers in an emotion laden interview.
YNaija has compiled a list of 23 shocking revelations about the group from the interview Peter had with the entertainment newspaper.
1. Peter is moving away from Lekki court where he and his twin, Paul, currently reside, to Parkview estate, in Ikoyi.
2. The group have not performed together since December 28, 2015.
3. According to Peter, the whole break up episode happening now would have occurred in 2014 before the release of their Double Trouble album.
He was quoted as saying that “the fans should be happy that we were able to drop the ‘Double Trouble’ album in 2014. What’s happening now should have happened then.”
4. Peter revealed that he has stayed in Psquare up to this point out of ‘fear’.
“The issue was the fact that I was in Psquare and it felt like I was in fear. If I don’t do this, Psquare will break-up, if I don’t do that, Psquare will scatter.”
5. Peter said he first brought up the issue of Jude stepping aside as their manager in 2012 as he felt Psquare needed a structure.
However, he said Jude shut him down by threatening to land him a vicious ‘slap’ next time he brings up such a topic.
“Four years ago, I told Jude that he needs to step down as our manager, because I didn’t want to disrespect him as a brother, but this is business, we have to structure it. And Jude said to me that there’s a way I’ll talk to him, and he’ll slap me. So I kept quiet.”
6. Peter also revealed that although they live in the same estate he has not been on ‘talking terms with Paul since December 2015’.
He however, said he talked to him sometime last week.
“I and Paul stay together in this estate and the last time I saw him was about a week ago. Truth is, I’ve not been in talking terms with Paul since December 2015 and that was why I travelled in January because I had a lot on my mind.”
7. Peter said Paul has been doing collaborations with other artistes under the umbrella Psquare and he has been appearing alongside his twin in music videos of the songs.
However, Paul never did the same for him anytime he worked with people on behalf of Psquare.
“Now listen to this, Psquare featured on songs with J-Martins, Bracket, LKT, 9ice and these 4 songs were done by Paul alone, but guess what, did I appear in the videos, YES. Now hear this, we have other collabos with Kaha, Darey, Ruggedman. I did these songs alone. How come they don’t have videos? Paul refused to appear in the videos.”
“So I told Paul that when next he does collabo alone, he should be in the video alone, because it got a point where artistes began to feel if they do a collabo with Paul it gets a video but if it’s me it doesn’t get a video.”
“The last collabo we did was with Flavour and I refused to do another one. Even Flavour had to speak all the Igbo he knows to convince me before I agreed to do it. Only for my brother to come and tell me that ‘shey I thought you said you won’t appear in any video that I did the collabo alone? Why did you appear on this one?’. I was sad but I knew another one will come’.”
8. Peter also said Paul told the folks at the Mavin Studios that he doesn’t sing.
“Something happened at Mavin Studios last year that broke my heart. So Tiwa Savage called me, apparently Paul had gone to do a song with her, not the campaign song they are promoting now, another Psquare collabo entirely. So she called me that she’s been trying to reach Paul to get the CD of the song from him that he’s already done his part, so I went to Paul’s house to help ask for it and tell him that I want to go to their studio to do my verse and he said he doesn’t know where the CD is’.”
“I went to the Mavin studio to meet Tiwa, when I got there, she asked for the CD and I told her Paul didn’t give me any CD, so I called him again and gave the phone to Tiwa and told her on phone that the CD is at Omole, so I got into the studio recorded my verse and when I finished, everybody was clapping. I was surprised only to realize that Paul had gone to tell them that I don’t sing or write songs.”
“I felt really bad and betrayed, but I covered up for him. I jokingly asked Teebillz if they gave him Red Label and he said yes, so I was like you guys caused it, and we laughed over it. So when my assistant went to pick up the CD, Paul and Jude started shouting at him to tell Peter that what is he doing at the Mavin studio? He knows how we work. The next day, I went to Paul and told him how I felt when I heard what he said. Only for Jude to say that he made Paul the lead singer of Psquare 8 years ago! A leader leads, he doesn’t destroy.”
9. Peter revealed that most of Psquare’s ideas come from him.
“I always get Ideas, most of Psquare ideas come from me, and when I say Idea, I mean materials we need to put out for people to see, video, stage performances and all. But when I come up with them, nobody wants to accept it. I didn’t complain because people still love what we do, but then again, there wasn’t much competition in the industry back then.”
10. According to Peter, decisions about Psquare have always been taken using a triangle formation (Jude, Paul and him) with the highest vote winning.
However, he doesn’t feel that can be effective anymore.
“When it comes to decision-making, it has always been a Triangle formation, and the highest vote wins. I never used to complain because we were all okay, but what has changed now is the fact that we’ve grown. You can make a certain decision based on how we used to do it and it may affect everyone as an individual, but it gets to a point when the decisions taken never gets to be my own and I began to wonder if anything is wrong.”
“As time goes, we should get better, it shouldn’t be the same triangle deciding, because if we continue that same way, we’ll lose it. All I want is a proper structure in the sense that, we need to have proper management, business managers and all.”
11. According to Peter, Psquare ‘has no office or structure’ at the moment.
“As I speak to you right now, we don’t have any office, no structure. When this issue started about five years ago, our lawyer told us the way we run our business is wrong without a structure.”
12. Peter said that lack of structure had caused them to falter, citing an incidence where they missed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s daughter’s wedding because they ‘quarelled’.
“We had to go perform somewhere once, and because I had a slight argument with Paul, he said he’s not going. The show was the wedding of the President’s daughter, because some times when we perform for some certain people, they always talk to me, they don’t call Jude.”
“I didn’t even know until we got to the airport and at the end of the day we missed the reception, but we finally performed at the gala night, because when I got to the airport my brother wasn’t there, and I became confused on how I was going to explain to the President that we can’t perform?”
“So I made up my mind to go with the band, perform like that and lie that my brother was sick. So we left for Abuja and when we got to the hotel dressing up my assistant manager called that he was on the way to the airport with Paul, so we had to wait for them to land in Abuja and that was why we couldn’t make it on time to the reception.”
“The president was mad. In fact Mama Peace (Patience Jonathan) was really mad. But we eventually made up for it with a performance at the Gala night. Only for Jude to say Paul said he wasn’t going for a show and I still went on it with. Imagine if Jude had a proper structure and we had contracts? That wouldn’t happen.”
“And it was more because the show came through me. If the show came through Jude it wouldn’t have happened. I don’t have a problem with doing things as a family, but then the structure and proper organization is important too. The name Psquare is very big outside but inside we have no structure, I see people like Audu of Chocolate City, Mavin Records, even Ubi Franklin and I wanted us to have a structure like that. Psquare is just up there because of the grace of God.”
13. Peter told NET that it is disheartening the way people label him as a dancer in the group. He said that although it is true that Paul song writing skills were better than his, however he feels that ‘not writing songs does not disqualify him from being a musician.’
“It’s really sad that people have labeled me ‘Dancer’, and people don’t really know what I do for Psquare. Kudos to Paul, I’m not a good songwriter, in-fact I’ll rate myself 30%, so when it comes to song writing, I give it to Paul 100%.”
“However, not writing songs does not disqualify you from being a musician. I can tell you for free that a Nigerian wrote two of the songs on Rihanna’s new album. I’ve travelled a lot and most times people ask, ‘which one are you, the singer or the dancer’? And it’s really sad.”
14. Peter however, declared that in Psquare, he is the ‘creative person’.
“In Psquare, I am the creative person, I can sit-down and tell you what people want to hear, what they want to see and what they want to learn from Psquare. But it’s not something to brag about.”
15. Peter said he feels Paul is ‘weak’ in regards to standing up to their brother- Jude.
“I remember I once told Paul something, when Jude was using the term ‘Our Money’ when he just became our manager, that was when we made our first 1 million. I called Paul and told him that our former manager used to make about 15%, now that Jude is our manager, let’s think of a percentage that we’ll be giving him and put it on paper. Paul was like, it’s not necessary. Probably, he went to tell Jude about it. I’m sorry to say this, but I think Paul is weak.”
“Imagine Jude telling me that he’s in charge of Psquare and there’s nothing Peter and Paul can do about it, and I look at Paul he’s quiet about it’. I’ve never seen where a manager talks to his artistes anyhow. If there’s any issue you should call us aside quietly to talk about it.”
16. Peter also revealed that Paul had formed a group behind his back called The MVP’s with Jude being manager meaning that his twin and elder brother had already planned to split from the group at first.
“On December 14, 2015 we sat down to have a meeting hoping to be able to set a proper structure in place, but Paul noticed that it wasn’t working the way he wanted, so he said he wants to tell us that he’s starting a new group.”
“I thought he meant he wanted to start a record label, and he was like no, he’s starting a new group that he belongs to. And Jude simply said, ‘anybody stop you’? He picked up his phones and walked out of the meeting. I felt it had already been discussed behind me.”
“I later found out that Paul is already recruiting the group and Jude is their manager. At the moment I heard they are called ‘The MVPs’ I don’t know what it means yet.”
17. Peter defended his recent social media rants saying he did it to protect his and his brother’s ‘career’.
18. Peter revealed that the day he fired Jude was at a concert when he got back from his Europe vacation this year.
“The day I fired Jude was at a concert. It was the day I came back, we had a show, so I went straight to the venue in Lagos and told Jude I want to talk to him, and he said I should say anything I want to say in front of everyone. I was like that was the same attitude Paul gave me before I travelled.”
“So Jude was like if I like I should get out, and I was like guy don’t embarrass me. He said who are you, because you think you are Psquare? So I told him openly that if he cannot resolve me and Paul’s issue, he doesn’t deserve to be our manager, and he said I should get out. There and then I told him ‘You are fired’! He looked at me and said, ‘You fit fire me’?”
That was when I entered my car and started Tweeting. How else can you take him out? Long before I made up my mind, Paul already said there’s no more Psquare, If Jude leaves he goes with him.”
19. Peter revealed how him and Paul both shed tears when he went to tell him about his new management.
“And before I announced my management, I wanted my mind to be clear, so I went back to Paul, this time we were alone and we spoke a lot, I told him I had no issues with him, but he needs to stop letting Jude use him as a shield.”
“Both of us started shedding tears, and when we finished he still said he hopes I’m not here to tell him that I still want Psquare and I told him I want to move on, because he already has a manager (Jude) and I don’t, so I had to structure myself too.”
“And I didn’t want to allow the Psquare name to fade before moving on. Look at Don Jazzy and Dbanj, when they broke up, they waited for like 6 months and had to start again. Now, that Psquare just broke up, let me use the name to move on quickly, because there’s no time.”
20. Peter feels that they might have killed their mum with this situation if she was still alive.
“To be honest with you, I feel if our mum was still alive, we would have pushed her to her grave with this whole thing. It’s really sad that even with everything going on, I still stand with Paul.”
21. Peter revealed how Jude bodied him off signing Cynthia Morgan and Jamb Question star Simi
“When I set up P-Classic records because people were saying Psquare haven’t helped anyone, I saw the success of Tiwa Savage and I was close to signing Cynthia Morgan and Simi. Ask them they’ll tell you.”
“I remember Paul came to the studio and said he heard I’m signing Simi and Cynthia, I said ‘Yes’, and he was like ‘What will people see Jude as’, and I gave him example of Drake and Young Money, Cash money.”
“Oscar (Producer of ‘Collabo’ ft. Don Jazzy) called to tell me that they can’t sign the deal, because he heard it’s causing problem in Psquare. Meanwhile Cynthia and Simi were both going through the contracts I gave them only for them to return it two days later that they can’t do it.”
“Two weeks after, I was shocked to hear that Jude had signed Cynthia Morgan, and she knows deep down that she’s never going to get a Psquare collage.”
22. Peter also revealed that contrary to media reports his mum wasn’t against his marriage to his wife, Lola Omotayo.
He then said that Lola was with his mum in her last moments on her sick bed at St. Nicholas hospital.
“People think we changed when we started having wives. Before my mum died, she was at St Nicholas hospital on the island, and my sisters were living in this house (in Lekki), and every morning before my wife goes to work, she’ll leave home at 5am in the morning to go and stay with my mum even before we get there ourselves. And when she closes from work, she’s back with her again.”
“So I just laugh when I hear people say my mum didn’t like my wife. It’s my wife and sister that prepare my mum’s meals in the kitchen.”
23. He said their wives have stayed clear of the whole controversy as they are pretty close.
“Now let me shock you: our wives, the three of them are the closest set of people you can imagine. Even with all that’s going on. It’s really surprising. Somehow, they respect themselves and stayed out of the whole drama and I respect them a lot. And that’s somehow what has kept us together for this long, otherwise Psquare would have ended like two or three years back”, Peter told the NET.
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