Nigerian musicians are being financed by Yahoo Boys these days - M.I Abaga reveals

Nigerian rapper M.I Abaga while speaking about the Nigerian entertainment industry said; “there’s no bank in the history of Nigeria that has given one Naira to any label. There’s one corporate entity that has given any label. It’s young guys.’

In his appearance on Pulse’s LooseTalk Podcast, Nigerian rapper, M.I Abaga spoke about issues affecting the Nigerian music industry the direction of his music.
The interview which runs for over two hours, touched on many aspects of the music business. At some point during the conversation, financing in the Nigerian music business and surprisingly, the rapper had good words to say about internet fraudsters, who he claims have been filling the gap by financing artistes, in the absence of corporate sponsors and brands.

In his words: “there’s no bank in the history of Nigeria that has given one Naira to any label. There’s one corporate entity that has given any label. It’s young guys.’
“In fact, you’re more likely to get money from a Yahoo boy. Shout-out to Yahoo boys. May God prosper your business.” He further said.

M.I is echoing a general industry opinion that says that financing is hard. And yes it is difficult to secure corporate financing for creating music. But he doesn’t get it right when he says no bank has ever invested in a record label.

According to sources who spoke with Pulse, in 2008, music industry entrepreneur, Tony Nwakalor secured a loan from Skye Bank, with which he created the defunct record label, Yes Records. According to sources who pled anonymity, the loan was up to N500 million.

“The company was well-funded, and they ran for a while and had a couple of radio records. They helped launched Sexy Steel’s career too,” a source said.

With that funding, Tony Nwakalor created Yes Records, and signed a list of artists including I.D Cabasa, Jahbless, Sexy Steel and G-Xploits.
Pulse has reached out to Tony Nwakalor and Skye Bank for details.