Speaking as a guest on the So Nigerian podcast, the hip-hop star described it as “an indictment on our country” that many promising musicians rely on questionable funding streams or foreign grants to sustain their careers.
“There’s a lot of controversy when people talk about Yahoo Yahoo, because for a lot of artists, that’s the funding they have,” M.I said. “It’s an indictment that we have such talented musicians, yet the major funding for the industry comes from the West and from the fraud industry. It shows that something is wrong. Hopefully, we can do better.”
The One Naira rapper argued that a lack of robust local investment has left young creatives dependent on peer-to-peer financial support, with struggling artists often helping one another to survive rather than receiving meaningful backing from established institutions or wealthy patrons.
M.I called on Nigeria’s affluent individuals and corporate bodies to take a more active role in financing the creative sector, noting that such investment would not only help artists thrive but also enhance the industry’s credibility and sustainability.
His remarks add to an ongoing national conversation about transparency, accountability, and homegrown investment in Nigerian entertainment — a sector that, despite its global success, still faces deep-rooted funding challenges.
Do you want me to also create a linked opinion-analysis piece exploring the ethical, legal, and economic risks of illicit funding in Nigerian music? That would pair well with this straight news version.