Peter Okoye: I’m making more money as solo artiste

Peter Okoye, Nigerian singer, says he is making more money than he did under P-Square, the now-defunct music group he shared with Paul Okoye, his twin brother.

The singer, who is better known as Mr P, was speaking about ‘The Prodigal‘, his debut studio album as a solo artiste, during a recent interview with HipTV.

During the interview, Peter talked about the freedom which he said comes with defining his music style.

“Hundred percent, I am. I don’t have to share three ways. Call it greed or selfishness. It’s your own cup of tea. I share with nobody. Yes, my management and my team. Fine. But I’m doing my own thing. I’m freer,” he said.

“I’m making more money. Freedom is key. I can get a call that there’s a show next week and it’s my daughter’s birthday. I can say, ‘cancel it’. As a group, I couldn’t do that. Moneywise, if I used to share three ways, I share alone.

“What am I doing music for? It’s about doing it how I feel it. It’s not even about the money. But when it comes to that, I make more than I was while in the group.”

On why he named his 16-track album ‘The Prodigal’, Peter said he wanted to reflect what had transpired in terms of the fallout of his altercation with Paul and Jude Okoye.

“Naming my album ‘The Prodigal’, I wanted something that can suit my situation. Remember, it’s not ‘The Prodigal Son’. The meaning of ‘prodigal’ is someone who lives lavishly, being so successful and independent,” he added.

“Someone ready to take responsibility for his decisions. My album was supposed to be titled ‘Blessed’. But everyone already knows I’m blessed. The prodigal son ran away and came back without succeeding. I’m still succeeding.”

Peter noted that he might tap Burna Boy, a Grammy-winning singer, to remix ‘Prodigal’, his DJ Switch-assisted track.

“What I look out for when featuring is that it must fit the artiste. There are so many collaborations that didn’t go far because they didn’t fit the individuals. When I was doing the album, it never had a song called prodigal,” he said.

“I decided I wanted one. The first person (for collaboration) that came to my mind was Burna Boy. After putting up the song, I sent it to Burna Boy. He loved it. The problem was that he just released his album.

“But the company he was signed to was going to give me clearance in March. I couldn’t wait that long because, then, I wanted to release on November 18th. Another person I thought about was DJ Switch. I called her.

“We had in mind that we would bring Burna Boy for the remix. I wrote that song because of Burna Boy.”