Singers use artistic conventions to construct marketable music personas. However, that\u2019s not the full picture. In the US, for example, most American hip-hop and rap songs are also a reflection of the artistes\u2019 living experiences and social communities. These mainly involve gang violence, street hustling and thug life.<\/p>\n
The late rapper, Notorious B.I.G., summarized a part of this succinctly in his song \u201cJuicy\u201d:<\/p>\n
\u201cYea, this album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me I\u2019d never amount to nothing, to all the people that lived above the buildings that I was hustling in front of that called the police on me when I was just trying to make some money to feed my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yahoo Boys influence on Nigerian music
\nCurrent Nigerian hip-hop artists also reflect on socioeconomic realities in their songs, performances and records. This landscape includes cyber-criminals, commonly known as \u201cYahoo Boys\u201d \u2013 the people who set up fake Internet accounts with the express intention of defrauding their victims.<\/p>\n
In a recently published paper I tried to unpack the complexity of the relationship between Nigerian musicians and Yahoo Boys by analyzing hip-hop lyrics that feature the cyber fraudsters. While many Nigerian hip-hop artists glamorize Yahoo Boys, some also condemn them.<\/p>\n
In my study, I concluded that as the world staunchly condemns Yahoo Boys it should also consider the social environment from which they have emerged. Through analyzing the lyrics of hip-hop artists, I argue that Yahoo Boys are a reflection of Nigerian society and that hip-hop artists, with all their flaws, are often simply attempting to hold a mirror up to these complicated times in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
In that way, they follow in the footsteps of the hip-hop greats.<\/p>\n
The lyrics
\nI examined lyrics from 2007 to 2017 involving 18 hip-hop artists. The theme I sought out in all the songs was the glamorization of cyber-fraud and cyber-fraudsters. All the songs I studied were by male singers apart from one entitled, \u201cMaga no need pay,\u201d which involved seven multiple artists. This was due to the fact that fewer women celebrated Nigerian men who have become wealthy through cyber-fraud. Clearly, gender cultures apply online as they do offline.<\/p>\n
One question I was keen to answer was whether the songs were similar \u2013 or different \u2013 to other cultural expressions in Nigerian music in general.<\/p>\n
Historically, before the emergence and commercialization of the Nigerian hip-hop, a common subject in many Nigerian music genres \u2013 such as high life \u2013 was wealthy individuals. How they acquired their wealth \u2013 legally or illegally \u2013 was immaterial. For example, research shows that a high life singer, Ogbogu Okonji, in his song \u201cAlusi Ego,\u201d meaning the god(dess) of money, personified a \u2018prominent\u2019 lawyer, Fred Ajedua as the God of money.<\/p>\n
I argue that the glamorization of Yahoo Boys in hip-hop music is a continuation of this tradition, and merely reflects the social communities that created them.<\/p>\n
The one big difference is that Yahoo Boys are portrayed differently to other influential or otherwise cultural figures. For example, the lyrics make a sharp contrast between Yahoo Boys and other criminals whom they refer to as \u201cthieves.\u201d This comparison is aimed at suggesting that some fraudulent activities \u2013 such as cyber-fraud \u2013 is benevolent while other criminal actions are malevolent and should be condemned.<\/p>\n
I also point out that, while it\u2019s appropriate to condemn the fraudulent activities of Yahoo Boys, it\u2019s worth noting that many Nigerians who claim to be \u201claw abiding\u201d are involved in different kinds of theft, such as corruption and fraud and the embezzlement of public funds. The point I make is that the line dividing these people and Yahoo Boys is blurred.<\/p>\n
Justifications
\nTo understand the relationship between cyber-fraud (yahoo-yahoo) and Nigerian hip-hop music I used the idea of moral disengagement \u2013 that people don\u2019t ordinarily engage in reprehensible conduct until they have justified to themselves the rightness of their actions.<\/p>\n
People use many different kinds of justifications. They include blaming the victims of crime for their plight. For example, Yahoo Boys, as represented in music lyrics, commonly refer to their victims as greedy. By doing this they minimize their own responsibility.<\/p>\n
Equally, Yahoo Boys diminish the harm they cause by shifting responsibility to circumstances beyond their control, such as poverty and unemployment.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t new. Socioeconomic realities have often been reflected in music and culture. And in the case of Nigerian hip-hop lyrics, it\u2019s possible that some songs, may provide ways for listeners to appreciate cyber-fraud (yahoo-yahoo).<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not suggesting that hip-hop causes crime. What I\u2019m arguing is that they offer vivid vocabularies of motive, which justify cyber-fraudulent activities and provide a way for listeners to understand and appreciate them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Singers use artistic conventions to construct marketable music personas. However, that\u2019s not the full picture. In the US, for example, most American hip-hop and rap songs are also a reflection of the artistes\u2019 living experiences and social communities. These mainly involve gang violence, street hustling and thug life. The late rapper, Notorious B.I.G., summarized a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":9287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,17],"tags":[140,551,59,114],"class_list":["post-9282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-art","tag-internet","tag-music","tag-nigerian-musicians"],"yoast_head":"\n