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Fixing the Square: Why the Manager's Seat Is the Fault Line — and How to Repair It

An argument that the P-Square problem sits in the management seat, not between the twins, plus a practical seven-step plan to rebuild the partnership.

August 5, 20269 min read5 viewsUpdated August 10, 2026
#P-Square#Music Business#Management#Reconciliation

The uncomfortable read

Fans keep asking which twin is the problem. Judging by what all three men have said publicly over the years, that is the wrong question.

The recurring subject of dispute has not been a song, a feature or a tempo. It has been the management relationship — the seat occupied by their elder brother, Jude Okoye.

That is not a character verdict. It is a structural one, and the distinction matters.

Why the manager's seat is the fault line

A manager in a normal setup has a defined, terminable, negotiable contract. Fees are documented. Reporting is independent. If the artist loses confidence, they change manager and the family Christmas is unaffected.

Put a sibling in that seat without paperwork and four things happen:

  1. Authority becomes ambiguous. Is an instruction managerial advice or older-brother seniority? Nobody can tell, so nobody can push back cleanly.
  2. The role becomes unfireable. Ending the contract feels like ending the relationship, so problems get tolerated instead of solved.
  3. Money becomes opaque. When the person negotiating deals, receiving funds and reporting results is the same person, suspicion is inevitable even where conduct is clean.
  4. The artists get separated from each other. With one hub and two spokes, the twins increasingly communicate about business through the hub instead of directly. Hubs shape narratives, whether they intend to or not.

That last point is the mechanism most people miss. It is not that anyone must have plotted. It is that a single, undocumented intermediary between two co-owners will always end up owning the version of reality both of them act on.

Concentrate authority and information in one unaccountable seat, and it will eventually break whatever it was hired to hold together.

Public claims about specific sums and specific conduct have been made on all sides and are for the parties and, where relevant, the courts to resolve. What is available to everyone is the design flaw — and the flaw is fixable.

Fixing the square

The name is a shape: four corners, held by four sides. Repair means rebuilding the sides, not just standing the corners next to each other again.

1. Separate the entities

Three legal vehicles, not one blur:

  • P-Square Ltd — the duo brand, catalogue and joint touring, owned 50/50.
  • Two solo companies — one per artist, fully independent.

Anything joint gets invoiced between entities. Anything solo never touches the joint books.

2. Retire the family management seat

Not a punishment — a professionalisation. Bring in an independent manager or management firm, on a written contract, with fixed term, defined scope, capped commission and a clean termination clause. If a family member is to remain involved, it must be as a contracted service provider with the same terms as any outside vendor, reporting to both artists.

3. Audit the past, then close it

Appoint an independent accounting firm both artists jointly select. Reconstruct historical revenue, settle what settlement is owed, and sign mutual releases. Unfinished accounting is the fuel every future argument runs on.

4. Fix the assets

Register and clarify ownership of the name and trademark, masters and publishing, and social and digital channels. Every asset gets one owner of record and one written licence for joint use.

5. Install a referee before the next fight

A shareholders' agreement with a mandatory mediation clause and a named mediator, plus a two-signature rule for anything above an agreed threshold. Referees appointed during peacetime are the only ones both sides trust in wartime.

6. Write a communications rule

One clause, enormous returns: no public statement about internal disputes without both parties' written consent. Fights aired in public become positions; positions become permanent.

7. Make the duo a project, not a prison

Both artists keep full solo freedom. The duo reconvenes for defined projects — an album cycle, a tour, a run of shows — each with its own budget, split and end date. Partnerships that people choose repeatedly are stronger than partnerships people cannot leave.

The 30-day version

If they wanted momentum quickly:

  • Week 1: both artists appoint independent lawyers; agree a media truce.
  • Week 2: jointly appoint a forensic accountant; freeze new joint commitments.
  • Week 3: incorporate the three entities; register brand assets.
  • Week 4: sign the shareholders' agreement, the mediation clause and the communications rule. Announce the structure — not the grievances.

Then, and only then, book the studio.

Why it is worth doing

The catalogue is generational. The brand still moves stadiums. Two artists in their creative prime can still produce a reunion body of work worth more than everything the dispute has cost.

The music was never the problem. The paperwork was.

Commentary and analysis based on publicly reported statements and interviews. Nothing here alleges wrongdoing beyond publicly made claims, which remain matters for the parties involved.

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