This
interview with Peter, the twin brother of Paul Okoye who are
collectively known in the music scene as P-square, was held in the
second floor lobby of Golden Peacock Hotel in Liliongwe, the capital of
Malawi few hours before their hugely successful concert that was almost
marred by a torrential rainfall destroyed some of their instruments.
The
concert was part of African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) nomination
party/gala nite that held in Malawi. Deputy Editor, Charles Okogene was
among the journalists Peter fielded answers to their questions on sundry
issues.
You are always on the road, how many days do you guys have to yourselves?
We
have been trying as much as possible to create time for ourselves, but
most times, we don’t get it. We need more time to rest because
performing for two to three hours on stage is not an easy task. However,
we took a break in January.
What is the inspiration behind Alingo video?
P-Square
for the past five years haven’t done any dance video and our fans
expected to see something of that nature from us. So, Alingo was just
the first song we had even before the Invasion album came out. We didn’t
take the song seriously until our fans started loving it. And before we
knew what was happening, it caught fire and was everywhere. We have no
choice than to give our fans a video.
You put in a lot of energy into the video…(cuts in).
Yes.
When the song started picking up, we thought it was important to give
our fans something they have never gotten from P-Square in the past five
years. The last time, we did something similar to this, Roll It was
over five years ago. It took us a lot of time and energy to produce the
album. Our elder brother, Jude, who is also our manager, shot the video.
Interestingly, most people didn’t know that the video was shot in
Nigeria. We went to an abandoned warehouse situated some 10 minutes away
from our Lagos residence to shoot the video. There, we created the
scenario and got the video shot.
It was also rumoured sometime ago that you guys bought a private jet. Is it true?
There
was nothing like that. I guess because it was included in our rider
that whenever we are going for a specific show, the organsiers must
provide us with a private jet. We had a deal with a private jet company
which always give out their private jet to us on hire whenever we are in
need of it. So, it is like, we have private jet at our disposal. I
remember, I once tweeted that private jet has been included in our list.
That was how people started speculating that P-Square has bought a
private jet.
The impression out there is that P-Square is arrogant?
I
think P-Square is very intimidating; we are not arrogant. When you saw
me today, did I look arrogant? I came to greet everybody. That is a
wrong impression people have about us. There is Peter and there is Paul.
Peter is stubborn, bad and controversial, but they say Paul is quiet,
cool headed and all that. But you see, you can steal from Peter to pay
Paul, and if you steal from Peter to pay Paul, you are indeed paying
P-Square. I’m a very controversial person and I’m not expecting every
news about me to be positive. P-Square is not arrogant, it’s just that
the people are scared of approaching them, considering the way we
operate. When you see P-Square stepping out, we look very intimidating.
But the people that are very close to us will testify that we are not
arrogant. Beyonce could visit a shopping mall today, and the whole place
will be shut down. That does not make her arrogant. It is her
management that has made it to be so.
How is life without your mother?
It
has been hectic. We haven’t decided to do a new album at the moment.
But then, anytime we were working on a new album, while she was alive,
she was always with us in our studio. We don’t know how we are going to
do it this time around. She was a minister of God before she passed on.
She had her own church which Paul and I built for her. Anytime we want
to release a new album, she would pray for the album for almost a week
before we release it. Her church is still functioning till date and her
prayer partners are still there. Once in while, we do communicate with
the leadership of the church and it is our desire to see the church
continue to function after her death. Wherever she is today, she will be
happy that the church is still functioning because it’s a monument for
her.
But did you guys really know what happened to your mother?
People
must always speculate. It got to a point I said to myself that those
people who were accusing us of being responsible for our mum’s death
must be ignorant of how close we were to her. We didn’t want that rumour
to distract us. In fact, when people are insinuating such things, the
best advice is for you to block your ears and never allow it to distract
you. I’m human and I don’t except people to say positive things about
P-Square all the time. But I am not looking forward to that. P-Square
has made its worst mistake in the past, and people didn’t notice it. We
are not perfect. And we know why people accused us of being responsible
for our mother’s death. It’s because we are successful in what we are
doing for a living. Even in my Igbo nation, once somebody starts to
progress, his kinsmen will begin to associate his riches with money
ritual. We have overgrown such insinuation.
What are those mistakes you made in the past?
Let’s leave that in the past.
How did you grow up with Paul?
Our
growing up was fantastic. I’m the person who was always on the stubborn
side. Then, I would go out there and cause some stir and they would put
the blame on Paul because we are twins. We were always wearing the same
clothes. I and Paul grew up doing things together. It has remained like
that till date. That’s the way our mother trained us. What Paul does
not like today, I will not like either. Maybe, this is what has been
holding us together.
Have you had any cause to date the same woman?
Every
woman wants to hang out with Peter. This is because everybody knows
that Peter is more outgoing than Paul. But I doubt if woman can cause
problem between Paul and myself. Money would have been the devil that
will cause problem between us than woman. Any woman that wants to come
between us is wasting her time.
Every successful man wants to continue to invest in other areas of life. Are you thinking in that direction?
P-Square
is not only involved in music alone. We are into real estate business.
That we have been doing for a long time now. We do a lot of businesses. A
business man who is keeping his money in the bank, what is he keeping
it without investing it. We also do banking business, but real estate
pays us more.
Recently it was rumoured that you are into oil and gas business?
Yes,
it’s about to kick off. My music is doing very well in the market, and
investing in other areas will help to boost my pocket, which is not a
bad idea.
Source: Daily Independent
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