They are ever busy, taking their music around the continent
where they are arguably the most popular act from Nigeria. Peter Okoye,
one-half of the energetic choreographers and twin singers, P-Square,
spoke to VICTOR AKANDE, Entertainment Editor, recently.
HOW do you feel that your latest single, Alingo, has been banned?
I
heard of the ban, but, honestly, reasons for the ban were not
specified. But what we have noticed and they haven’t is that when you
ban a song you only make it popular. Banning a song on Nigerian channels
doesn’t mean much because the major international channels still play
the videos.
What really was the reason behind the video?
For
a few years now P-square haven’t made a dance video and our fans have
been anticipating, so we just decided to give them that. Alingo was a
freestyle that we did even before the Invasion album; we never took it
serious until it leaked, and we got good responses. Thus, we decided to
shoot a video for it.
Did you have to take the recording abroad again like most of your works?
Surprisingly,
no! The scenes were created and shot in an abandoned warehouse close to
our home in Nigeria. It took a lot of time and energy though, because
it has been five years since we did a dance video, the last which was
Roll It.
How far have you gone with
foreign collaborations, considering that it’s the fastest way to hit the
European and American markets?
Let’s
look at it this way. We have known Akon for over six years, but we
didn’t have talks for collaboration, till he came to our concert in
London and witnessed the reception. He was trying to open Kon Life in
Africa and was looking for people to help him run it, so we teamed up in
what we call a joint venture. We are establishing an office in Nigeria
called Kon Life, because we are here representing him while he is out in
the states representing us. So, all I can say is that the process is
on. Just watch out.
Which country would you say is your biggest market in Africa?
East
Africa is the biggest encouragement, a certain place to run to at any
time. Southern Africa is a potential market; that is, it is still in the
works because we have been working there for over a year. But a
profitable market is based on an entertainer’s personal effort, because
an area can’t remain hot for us every time, so we are exploring new
grounds.
You are always on the road, how much time do you have for yourselves?
We
try as much as possible, but we don’t get as much time as we would
want. But we took the whole of January this year to rest, because last
year was a very busy year for us. However, we are back on the road
again. It is the nature of the business, and we are hoping for a 2013
that will be better than last year, because this year we are including
the tour of United States in our schedule.
What is this rumour about you guys acquiring a private jet; can you confirm it?
It’s
not true my brother. We had a deal with a private jet company, which
provides that whenever we are going to a specific place, we would be
provided a jet. That way, they always gave us their private jets to
travel with. This makes our trips easier. On the other hand, we are
close to the presidents of most African countries, so when they hear
that we are coming to their country, they usually send their private
jets to pick us wherever we are. But that is not to say we can’t acquire
our own jet. As a matter of fact, we are planning to get ours.
How
have you been able to live above the scourge of piracy, which most
artistes say is the reason they have not been able to make headway?
Piracy
affects all of us, but still P-square as a brand has managed to strive
and be successful. The truth is that we know how to make money even from
the pirates. Some of the marketers are the pirates that we are talking
about, as a result, fighting piracy starts with them. We know our worth,
so before a marketer buys our album, we make him provide the cost of
production and profit margin. Our last album took the joint effort of
three different marketers to buy.
Despite being blood brothers, are you (P-Square) likely to go your separate ways someday?
Peter
and Paul are not perfect; we quarrel like normal siblings do, but we
don’t let it affect our business. Even with Jude our brother, in
business, he is our manager and he respects us as the artistes he
manages, but when it comes to family matters, he is our elder brother
and we give him that respect. Only our late mum had the power to make us
split and she wouldn’t have done that. So, if there is to be a split,
it will not be as a result of quarrel, but on mutual ground. Group
splits are not out of place, but our blood ties keep us strong and our
background won’t even allow us split. We understand each other very
well.
Talking about your background, how was growing up with Paul like?
(Smiles)I
was very stubborn as a child, but Paul ended up paying for my
atrocities, as people often mistook him for me. We grew up doing things
together and we still do. We have our mum to thank for this. I try to
like what he likes and he does same, but in a situation whereby he feels
differently, I just let go. We have been united from birth and we still
are.
How has life been without your mother?
It’s
been hectic. We haven’t sat down to do an album because she was usually
there with us in the studio. As a pastor that she was, she used to pray
on everything we do and even pray on our album a week before it was
released. We don’t know how we will do it this time, but we hope for the
best.
After doing the same thing over a long period, do you ever feel like exploring other avenues?
For
P-square, music has become a part of us, but since we understand the
pattern and are used to it we have started looking into other means of
making money. But we also understand that making so much money and
storing it is not wise, we have decided to go into various businesses;
one of which is real estate business. This, we have been doing for a
long time. We do businesses that we can get people to run for us without
fear. We are also about to enter into oil and gas business.
They say you guys are arrogant…
Paul
and I have two different personalities, so you cannot use the attitude
of one to judge the group. I don’t expect all news about me to be
positive. Paul, for example, waits for major events before being in the
news, but I am more controversial. Our intimidating nature makes us look
arrogant, but it’s really not like that.
Your brother, Jude Okoye (Engees), was quoted as saying he won’t produce any other artiste but P-Square
There
was an interview where he was asked that question and I think he said
it as a joke. Apart from that, Jude has a lot of businesses he’s into,
so signing artistes is not really a priority for him. He keeps his
interests on P-Square because outsiders might not understand the way he
does his things, so he doesn’t want distractions.
Mwili wa mmojawapo wa marehemu.
Wananchi wa eneo hilo wakiwa na simanzi baada ya ajali hiyo.
