The PSquare split is the latest story in town. And all all social media sites are having a field day writing all that they know about the brothers.Their official separation will be the biggest separation in the entertainment industry especially since they are not just business partners but twin brothers.
There has been one thousand and one reasons as to why they are going their separate ways…While many are pointing accusing fingers at Peter Okoye’s wife, Lola Omotayo, others are insinuating it is their elder brother, Jude. Some Insiders have also alleged that their late mother, Mrs Josephine Okoye said she saw them splitting months before her death.The fight has been on since 2 years ago and they kept telling their fans that they have come back only for another fight to erupt over 3 weeks ago.
One major exclusive interview that gave many people insight to what really happened between the 2 brothers was the one granted by Peter a few months back to the net.ng led by Adekunle Ayeni. It was an exclusive one where Peter talked about many issues, his marriage and real reasons there is need for seperation.From getting rejected by record labels, to having Howie T set up Timbuktu records because no one would sign them on, to the days of Get Squared and Busy Body and Do Me, Psquare has demonstrated how it’s possible to grow from nothing to something.
Leaving Jos as Michael Jackson wannabe dancers to Lagos, where they found favor in a Benson & Hedges competition, life has been very good to them. 17 years later, their light doesn’t look like it’s about to dim. Fans are still in love with their music; corporate Nigeria still wants the brand. But sadly, Peter and Paul who live just a building apart, rarely set eyes on one another.
They’re no longer the inseparable duo everyone loves. They haven’t performed together since December 28, 2015. In fact, they’ve only seen each other a couple of times since then, in rather hostile circumstances, Peter tells Nigerian Entertainment Today. After years of dealing with family issues and trying to solve their differences, they’re now dishing out dirty details on social media, using their very own hands to drag a brand they’ve built over nearly two decades through the mud. This is not the first time brands will disintegrate. There’s been Sir Shina Adewale. There’s been, in recent times, The Remedies, Plantashun
This is not the first time brands will disintegrate. There’s been Sir Shina Adewale. There’s been, in recent times, The Remedies, Plantashun Boiz, STYL Plus, and, if one is to consider them a band, Mo’Hits. The world remains in shock, about what has become of the union of D’Banj and Don Jazzy, the Mo’Hits leaders who, before our very eyes, tore down everything that held them together.
If D’banj and Don Jazzy’s break up was understandable, since they were merely close friends and business partners, the fall of Psquare, following the apparently irreconcilable spat between Peter on one side, and Jude and Paul on the other, is harder to believe or understand.. But it’s real. Fighting back tears, Peter, who’s the first to go public with what’s been a private issue for years, tells Psquare fans they must understand that this is the end of the band as they know it.
These were some of the highlights from the extensive conversation ‘The truth is, 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. ‘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.’ Four years ago, I told Jude he needs to step down as our manager, because I didn’t want to disrespect him as a brother, but this is business, [and] we have to structure it. And Jude said to me that there’s a way I should talk to him, and threatened to slap me. So I kept quiet.’
‘Truth is, I’ve not been on talking terms with Paul since December 2015 and that was why I travelled in January because I had a lot on my mind. 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. 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.’ The last collabo we did was with Flavour and I refused to do another one.
I was surprised to realize that Paul had told them {at Mavin Studio}that I don’t sing or write songs. 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. ‘It’s really sad that people have labelled me ‘Dancer’ and they 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%.’
This whole thing began when Paul went online and started posting lyrics of most of our songs on Instagram [and saying]that he wrote them all, just because Peter brought in something to the table. I had been trying to bring more business for Psquare.
I didn’t know it was going to cause problems. ‘I remember I once told Paul something when Jude became our manager; he was using the term ‘Our Money,’ that was when we made our first 1 million [naira]. I called Paul and told him that our former manager used to make about 15%, and now that Jude is our manager, let’s think of a percentage that we’ll be giving him and put it on paper. Paul said it’s not necessary. He probably went to tell Jude about it. I’m sorry to say this, but I think Paul is weak.’
‘On December 14, 2015, we sat down to have a meeting hoping to set a proper structure in place, but Paul noticed that it wasn’t working the way he wanted, so he said 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 was already recruiting for the group and Jude is their manager. At the moment I hear they are called ‘The MVPs’ I don’t know what it means yet. I went on social media to protect our careers, because if I didn’t do that, Psquare will not release any material anytime soon, they’ll be busy promoting their artistes. And I remember going to talk to Paul about it before I went on social media. I went to his house, and he was in his room with his friend, [whom I asked to excuse us, but] Paul said, no, his friend should stay, [and that] anything I want to say should be said in front of him.
So I said, no, you know we are brothers and he was like, ‘oh, na now you know say we be brothers.’ ‘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 [discussed things]; 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 ‘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.’ ‘It still boils down to the fact that Psquare was not structured.
Music is like football, Messi has his manager, Neymar has his manager, Suarez has his manager, but when they get to the pitch, they play as a team.’ ‘When Jude didn’t come to my wedding, people started saying we broke up and then others said it’s a stunt. When Paul posted those lyrics on Instagram people thought it was a stunt too, but the truth is that this is not and has never been a publicity stunt. I am telling you the truth.‘Last week Yemi Alade sent me her album track list to help her share on Instagram, guess what I saw, she had a song with Psquare that I didn’t even know about.
Only Paul did it.’ . I’ll still perform Psquare songs, nobody can stop me, nobody can stop Paul too, we didn’t have a contract with Jude, so I have the right to perform Psquare songs especially the ones I took part in. ‘Because of what was happening, it was like two against one, so I said let’s share our properties. When I said that, Paul said if we want to share our properties, Jude must get the same share with us otherwise Psquare will split and I was like ‘SPLIT-AGAIN?
Our lawyer came and told Paul that it’s wrong to share it equally with Jude, but he insisted, so we divided every property we owned in Lagos, Jos, America, Abuja. In-fact the right and left wing of the Square Ville mansion belongs to Paul and Jude now. So that was how we shared all our properties equally among the three of us about two or three years ago.’ ‘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.’
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. 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.‘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 collabo.’ ‘The truth is I feel happy it has come, because I’ve been staying in Psquare out of fear for the last four years.
The situation now is, if you want Psquare to perform, you’ll have to get in touch with 2 managers. I don’t care if you pay Paul’s management more than you pay me – once we are able to agree, Psquare is still there. ‘It’s good if we go and do stuff separately so that even IF we come back we’ll have respect for each other. I wish Paul the best and I wish Jude the best as well.’
“While many thought it was Lola causing the issues, Peter also sensitized the public that his mother had always supported Lola and all the while their late mum was in the hospital, Lola and Peter’s sister have been the one staying with her till she passed on. Lola also once talked about her marriage to Peter. They met 8 years before they got married after having one kid,
There has been a lot of talk and whispers about their marriage, the family issues and the fact that Lola is by far older than Peter Okoye has been trending. But why did she decide to marry someone who’s her junior?
Below is Lola Omotayo’s stand on their age difference…
Lola, who was a Business Development Director at FKG2m a marketing agency in Lagos, had told the story of how she and Peter met and how the relationship started: “My agency handles some of British American Tobacco brands and P’Square was doing a show for us at one of our events in Enugu. Though I had met Peter a couple of times before then, at the show there was some chemistry. He asked for my number and I refused giving it to him.
I told him ‘if you really want to know me, you have to find my number’. So he took it as a task and found my number and the rest is history.” Lola, said to be in her 30s then and Peter in his 20s, was not disturbed by the age difference. Her reason: “Like I said, Peter is an old soul and he always tells me that I’m like a 23-year-old. Age is just a number. Right now, you can see it around the world.
Demi Moore, Usher and some known people. Even in Nigeria here, they are dating people far older than their age. So, we shouldn’t base it on the age factor. He doesn’t make me feel like he’s younger than me.
Presently, popular Lawyer who has been with them for many years recently waded into the matter and we gathered they are seperating officially. In one of Festua Keyamo’s statement, he shed light on his recent dealings with the twin brothers, “As their close friends and lawyers over many years, we have done our very best to manage their differences over time and very prominent personalities have been invited in the past to intervene.
“We are well aware that we have a duty to keep the details of their disagreements confidential, so we shall say nothing here on the issues at stake. But since the disagreement is now in the public domain, and our name has been dragged into the fray, we wish to appeal to members of the public to refrain from jumping into uninformed conclusions about this feud.
“None of these talented brothers are at fault. None of them is also wholly justified and correct in their individual positions. We also wish to state categorically that, contrary to widely held opinions, none of their wives are at fault. In fact, the wives have kept their respectable and dignified distances from all the issues involved. THEY HAVE NEVER INTERFERED in any way”.
As at Friday when filing this report, Paul still shaded Peter by saying people should not tag him with a beer parlour or restaurant appearance and Peter reposted and replied him by saying, “please, enough of the shades,my brother, I have moved on I have even called myself an upcoming artiste, you are the song writer and the voice of Psquare,the every every, no wahala.
Pls allow me to have my peace,showcase myself to the world and enjoy with my family and I am expecting you to do same, it is not a competition. My brother and I have moved and I am sure we will definitely do something in future and I wish you all the best bro,nothing but love.. God bless Psquare and the great fans, God bless Mr P and God bless Rude boy”…
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