Family feud: How P-Square’s squabble squanders millions

By Ademola Olonilua

The names Peter and Paul Okoye are well-known to music lovers, especially in Africa. Still, when P-Square is mentioned globally, one cannot but remember the singing duo comprised of the Okoye twin brothers whom the stable of their Square Records delivered smashing international hit songs like E No Easy featuring J. Martins, Beautiful Onyinye featuring Rick Ross, Ejeajo featuring T.I, Chop My Money featuring May D and Akon among several others.

However, the singing duo are in the news not for their singing prowess but for the fact that they are at loggerhead which has resulted in the break-up of the duo once again. Hence, this split will make the singers who are referred to as one of the most influential music groups in Africa.

Result of the group fall runs to the loss of millions of dollars

In his open letter, Peter made it known that as P-Square, they sell out stadiums worldwide, but as solo artistes, they hardly do that. He stated, “So, my brother, let me ask you: Is Rudeboy or Mr P bigger and more successful than P-SQUARE today? Are we individually selling out arenas and stadiums like P-SQUARE used to? Are we topping world music charts with our songs as solo artistes?”

The singers, during their reunion tour, embarked on performing at 100 cities, one of which was at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall in September 2022. The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall’s opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world’s leading artists from many performance genres have appeared on its stage.

According to Shoobs.com a ticketing agency in the United Kingdom, the highest ticket for the show sold for about £55.55 (N113,401.16) with a booking fee of £50.50 (N103,111.20), while the cheapest ticket sold for £ 39.05 (N79,748.69) and a booking fee of £35.50(N72,265.18). This means that the duo, in one show alone in the UK, made about N597,850,915.52 for the highest tickets sold while they made N420,435,093.68 for the cheapest tickets. As the family feud brews, not only are the brothers losing fanbase and momentum due to the rise of new artistes, but also millions in foreign currency.

Genesis of the renewed feud

In a recent media interview, Paul (Rudeboy) stated that the music group ‘P-Square’ no longer exists. He said, “No, P-Square is no more.” Also, Peter, in an open letter via his official Instagram handle, claimed that his brother, Paul, not only took sides with their eldest brother, Jude, to destroy their brand, but he also took advantage of any given opportunity to undermine his efforts in the group while taking all the glory.

Peter, a.k.a Mr P, said in parts in his open letter to his brother, “You always look for opportunities to marginalize and humiliate me. You are always claiming to be P-SQUARE’s songwriter, composer, producer, singer, and backup vocalist. In fact, you are everything including P-SQUARE’s video director, band, promoter, manager, and even the choreographer. You are the Author and Finisher of P-SQUARE! In fact, I dash you 100% of everything instead of the 99% you claim.”

He further alleged that his brother insults his family at any given opportunity. “I often find myself wondering, what do you truly gain by constantly disrespecting and belittling me all the time? You have disrespected my wife, disrespected my family, disrespected my talent, disrespected my ideas, and even sided with Jude when he was clearly trying to oppress me. Now, it feels like you have taken it even further by trying so hard to turn the fans against me by making them believe I’m jealous of you,” Peter lamented.

In a report by kworb.net based on statistics by giant music media streaming service, spotify.com which was last updated on 2024/08/07 the singers via their Best of P-Square project streamed 239, 783, 191 with a daily stream of 142, 143 by their fans.

Spotify pays artists a certain amount for each stream, but the rate varies. It typically ranges from about $0.003 (N4.77) to $0.005 (7.95) per stream. The exact amount can depend on the type of subscription you have (Premium or Free), where you are listening from, and the specific agreements Spotify has with artists or their labels. This simply shows that a group with a singular project streaming on only one international platform earn Nigerian music stars at least N114,376,582,107.

Moreover, based on numbers from the video streaming platform giant, the song the duo had together after the fallout, Jaiye, has been viewed about 11 million times.

The amount of money a YouTuber earns per view varies greatly and depends on several factors, such as the type of ad, the viewer’s location, and the advertiser’s budget. On average, YouTube pays around $0.01 to $0.03 per view. This means that for every 1,000 views, a YouTuber can expect to earn between $10 and $30.

Fall-out of P-Square can lead to the brand’s extinction — Music mogul

A popular Nigerian music mogul who has been in the music business for over 30 years spoke with BusinessDay over the squabble between the brothers. The music executive who has discovered and managed many A-list artistes in the Nigerian music industry spoke anonymously as he described himself as an ‘elder brother’ to P-Square.

The music mogul, however, noted that if the brothers insist on parting ways, it could lead to the extinction of the brand known as P-Square. The music executive and talent manager further stated that if the brothers decided to finally stay apart they would lose millions of money as the music space now favours your singers.

“To be honest with you I cannot talk about their fight. I am like a senior brother to them. I understand what family members go through with certain issues that pertain to business. If I talk about A, B would be upset and if I talk about B, A would be upset. I don’t want to take sides. I would rather not talk about them.

“However, if I would discuss it from the business side as a music executive who has organized major shows in this country as well as discovered some of the legendary artiste to come out of Africa when they first broke up, I said they would come because they would lose a lot of money and they did.

“When the money was not forthcoming, they came back. At that time, they were young. The music industry has now gone past its level. The music level now is for artistes that are younger than them.

“Ordinarily, even the amount of shows they used to get at that time compared to 2024 has reduced tremendously. At least over 50 per cent. So, if they say they do not want to work together it means that they are retiring. They would not make money. Maybe they would have one, two or three shows per year that is if they are together. But if they say they want to part ways it means they are forcing themselves into extinction. They both know that it is the end of the P-Square as a group.

“If you want A you will pay small money for A and vice versa. If they want to earn a small amount of money they will not come and they will not be paid. They might be earning a lot of money from streaming services. Maybe that is what they want to do but they felt so upset that they did not want to be together again. This is my two cents on the issue,” the music mogul opined.