The Truth About Our Private Jet, By
P-Square
They are ever busy, taking their
music around the continent where they are arguably the most popular act from
Nigeria. An interview with one-half of the energetic choreographers and twin
singers, Peter Okoye.
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.
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