More than two years after their much-publicized reunion, Nigerian twin singers Peter and Paul Okoye, known as P-Square, have split again.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the twin brothers, who began their music career in 1999 and dominated the African music industry for over a decade, split up in 2017.
However, in 2021, they patched things up after a four-year breakup and several public controversies that alienated colleagues and fans.
During their split, Paul, known as Rudeboy, released songs like “Fire Fire” and “Nkenji Keke,” among others. Meanwhile, Peter, known as Mr P, released tracks like “For My Head” and “Cool It Down.”
For the first time in four years, they performed some of their hit songs together at a show held at the Sierra Leone National Stadium in Freetown after their reunion in November 2021, raising hopes for a new chapter.
In a recent development, Rudeboy announced during an interview with City FM shared on YouTube on Thursday that the musical group (P-Square) is no more.
He said, “No, P-Square is no more. Before, I was not saying anything about it but something happened that I started seeing and it started gaining importance. As my situation is now, I am only focused on Rudeboy. Believe me, I have never spoken but something has made me open up, especially the critical element that keeps raising this issue. The only essential element that is generating these issues, in the eyes of the public, you are told that he is the big brother, that he is doing this, that he (Jude Okoye) is doing that. When we came back, he was not even in the picture. No manager, no director, nothing. I was still alone.
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“There are a lot of people who don’t know, and that’s why I always tell people to be careful of the people you bring around, especially people who were never there when you were somewhere. Then all of a sudden, they came and started telling you some things. Why do you let him do all the songs? Why do you make him look like a dancer or call him a singer? It’s like it’s in your head and it starts growing. It started growing and it got to a level that I never expected to happen to me. No, I don’t want to go into details. Sometimes when I say things, they say to me: Why do I say it like I’m bragging? It’s still the same thing that you’ll hear. It’s still the same voice that you’ll hear. Nothing changes.”
Genesis
The 42-year-old singer revealed that their problems began in 2014 when they released the song 'Ejeajo' with T.I., a famous American rapper and multiple Grammy Award winner whose real name is Clifford Harris. Rudeboy explained that their initial split was due to the public's misconception about who mainly sings their songs.
“They’re brothers, I would say four brothers. One does the costumes, and each one has their part, and we play it. Suddenly, it became like, ‘You’ve been the one doing all the music; now you have to move; let me be the one doing the music. ’ It became like I was accused of saying, ‘He’s the dancer, I’m the singer. ’ I was accused of that. Whenever I go to the airport, people say to me, ‘Are you the singer or the dancer? ’ I didn’t know that it was affecting him. But I know there was a moment when we got together and said, ‘Don’t let this affect you. You should be proud of what you’re doing. ’
Before collaborating with TI, there was a debate among their fans that Paul (Rudeboy) was the songwriter with the sweet voice while Peter was the dancer.
Rudeboy acknowledged that this contributed to their split in 2017 and affected his song 'Ejeajo' with T.I. as fans missed his signature voice on their tracks.
“We have a song that we did with T.I., ‘Ejeajo.’ That’s when the problem started. Peter said, ‘Paul, you have to let me start,’ and the song came out with T.I. Today, I think it’s been like 15 years. It still has three million views because of the content of the song. They (the fans) didn’t hear that voice. The fans didn’t hear that kind of thing (voice) that they wanted to hear. The fans heard something and said it wasn’t P-Square. When the new P-Square got together, I said, ‘Show yourself and participate because I didn’t want the previous problem to repeat itself. Let’s do it together this time,’” Rudeboy added.
Reconciliation
She said that when they reconciled in 2021, she sought advice from her brother (Mr. P) on specific things that needed to change.
Recounting what he told Mr P during their meeting, he said: “You (Mr P) have started singing, and because I don’t want us to lose that P-Square feel, I made it clear: if we’re going to do ten songs, five of them should come from you (Mr P) and five from me (Rudeboy). I don’t need the stress of writing a song and then you changing the target. Let it stay as it is. Artists can release five songs or even a ten-track album, and if three of those songs are hits, it’s a hit album.”
The singer said he made every decision to protect and maintain P-Square, but the efforts were unsuccessful.
He said that P-Square fans constantly ask about the group whenever he releases a solo song.
“The new P-Square was calmer, there was everything we needed. But I didn’t want the same mistakes to happen again. Suddenly, he (Peter) said he was leaving. He told me to my face that he wanted to leave. I said, ‘OK, I want to go public,’ but he refused. When I go solo, people will call me the bad guy. Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s why I have to start talking, otherwise.”
“I have over two hundred songs stored away and I don’t know what to do with them. I’m not condemning anyone, but fans need to start knowing the truth so they don’t feel confused about what’s going on.”
Economic and Social Commission for Europe (EFCC)
The Jos native further alleged that Mr P requested the EFCC to arrest him on multiple charges including embezzlement of money from P-Square and unexplained wealth.
This newspaper previously reported that the anti-corruption agency had invited the singer. However, he later claimed on his Instagram page that his wealth came from his music career.
Rudeboy said the EFCC had invited him to account for his financial dealings since 2006.
Paul claimed that despite being cleared of all charges by the EFCC, Peter had refused to apologise for the false allegations.
He said: “This was happening in December last year. I was invited by the EFCC. He (Peter) filed a complaint against my elder brother (Jude) and me, and I didn’t expect or think it would get to this point. I thought it was just music, and then people asked me, ‘What did you do?’ Someone said I was going to jail for 20 years and I would be locked up. I wondered what I had done, and when I got there, they (EFCC) told me everything. They (EFCC) had already printed all my bank statements and everything else and put them on the table. I explained to them.
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“The first thing I thought was, what if I was a bad person or dubious like a Yahoo Boy? I was very scared that they (EFCC) would liquidate me. But I faced it. Those were the kind of questions I started asking myself. I was not comfortable, so I asked, ‘What is this? ’ Then I realised it was serious when they (EFCC) told me, ‘You have to get a surety and a lawyer. ’ I did everything I could. A month ago, they (EFCC) called me, my brother (Jude) and him (Peter) and they said, ‘First of all, I want to say that after all the investigation, Paul is innocent. Paul is blameless. We have investigated everything you (Peter) accused him (Paul) of, and it turns out that it was just a lifestyle. I have worked hard and I am a very good businessman. ’”
He urged people not to address every problem with anger, noting that anger will not solve things.
At the time of publication, Mr P had yet to respond to his twin brother's claims.