Veteran rapper, MI Abaga, has claimed that proceeds from internet fraud, popularly known as “Yahoo Yahoo,” fund a significant number of Nigerian artistes.
Speaking in a recent interview, MI said the link between the music industry and illicit funds is “an indictment” on the country. “There’s a lot of controversy when people talk about Yahoo Yahoo because a lot of artistes, that is the funding that they have,” he explained.
According to the rapper, the heavy reliance on foreign investment and money from questionable local sources reflects a lack of sustainable, legitimate financing structures for Nigeria’s creative sector.
What I’m trying to say is that it’s an indictment on our country that we have such talented musicians and that the major funding for the industry comes from the West and this other industry.
It’s an indictment. It shows that something is wrong. Hopefully, we can do better. Think about it: let’s even say I’m a Yahoo boy, I’m not, but let’s say I was and I just made ₦100 million. Okay, I’m now a criminal who made ₦100 million but still don’t have to give it to an artiste, I can blow it however I want, or I can put it in real estate.
“What I’m trying to say is that, the fact that it goes to artistes and that is one of the major ways that artistes can get investments into them. Like there’s no place else, it happens to be other young people who just happen to have money.”
Society will criticise the method of illegal money, but what is relevant is that there are other young people who have money and are just trying to help because they’re seeing their talented friends, and that is a statement about Nigeria.
The rapper’s views point to the realities of the music business industry in Nigeria.
