'Yahooze' is a hit song released by Olu Maintain in 2007. The song speaks of a flashy lifestyle with cars for every day of the week, fancy trips and expensive drinks. Before the song became a hit, however, 'Yahooze' was a popular slang term used to refer to the lifestyle of Yahoo boys. Yahoo boys are the proverbial scam artists who typically use 'yahoo.com' email address to bait unsuspecting and/or greedy individuals into letting go of their hard earned money. Olu Maintain himself has emphatically denied that his song glorifies the 'Yahooze' lifestyle and that it instead reflects his rise to fame and the changes that money has made to his lifestyle.
Well, recently at the Africa Rising concert in London, former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, sang and danced to the 'Yahooze' song alongside artist Olu Maintain. His 'performance' has generated criticism and suggestions that Powell supports scammers because he 'jammed' to what one called the "scammers anthem".
At the end of the day, is it fair to suggest that enjoying a song like 'Yahooze' means that one supports scam artists?
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i saw this pic on yahoo news and i was just laughing. I wanted to share but you have done it great justice. Poor collin he probably does not know half of what they are saying.
I was wondering where Colin has been during the elections.
hmmm...this is the song that was referenced by Oprah on her show where she was talking about Nigerians being scammers. Now Powell is dancing to it. Powell should be happy he's not running for election cos then some people would say he's endorsing scammers....
lol..i saw this in the newspaper the other day and i was amazed...
am thinking if he knew the deal about the song he wont have been quick to sing and dance along? no?
First a question: Did he even know the lyrics of the song? I seriously doubt that he did. He probably only responded to a rhythm that I suspect most readers - myself included - would describe as compelling.
Another related issue: I am really very happy that Mr Colin Powell has endorsed Mr Obama.
SSD, you see what I was saying about Nigerians being the ones who actually run Nigeria down?
Of the five commenters on this post - who I believe are Nigerians- not one of them knows what the song Yahooze is about even though you took the pains to explain it in your post.
And they wonder why Collin Powell would dance to 'such a song'!
I am amazed at the amount of ignorance being peddled around about this song and indeed about Nigeria and Nigerians. More worrisome is the fact that the perpetrators are mostly Nigerians!
I saw this story on BBC website but decided to dismiss all the insinuations (insults) therein because of the obvious ignorance of the correspondence who wouldn't even stick to one argument (insult) in an essay of less than 3000 words!
The poor boy - I doubt if one can define Olu Maintain as poor anymore though - had tried to explain severally why he chose to do the song. But I guess he stopped trying since nobody was interested as we all have our pet theories about it. Rightly or wrongly.
The song is essentially a parody of the life of a scam artist. If you have been at close quarters with a 419er you will recognize the language and the thought processes.
'Ti nba hammer, first thing na Hummer
One million dollars, elo lo ma je ti nba se si Naira'
Who else but a scammer or thief would think of buying a Hummer with his very first income when he 'hammer' (hits it)?
Rather than all these ignorant talk, I think we should commend Olu for his creative ability to make good music from practically nothing.
When musicians like R.Kelly, Sisqo, Busta Rhymes, Jamie Fox and others were 'Unleashing the Dragon, or 'Shaking A Tail Feather' or 'Passing The Carvoisier' and 50 Cents was 'Getting Rich or Dying Trying', Americans celebrated them, they didn't call them armed robbers or drug addicts.
I actually think Collin Powell has a good ear for music and is a bloody good dancer - given his age sha.
If people like Oprah don't have an ear for music or can't appreciate good music, is it our fault?
LOL! I'm shocked and suprised! He really is loosening up and having some fun these days!
This is not the Colin Powell I'm used to!
Well, you can't attribute every single thing a person does to their personal beliefs. Looks like the guy just wanted to ham it up for a minute.... I mean, how often does that happen?
People shouldn't take every single thing so seriously, especially not something so harmless as this.
I think folks just need to relaaaaxxxx....
People need to get a life. Colin Powell is not Nigerian and should not be expected to know anything about Yahooze. That being said I am sick of Nigerians that do nothing but sit on their asses and nitpick about Nigeria. If you hate it so much then you have two options. 1. Emigrate PERMANENTLY. Nobody wants to see you back when you think things are good. 2. Get off your ass and actually do something useful, and I don't mean talk. Start a business, create jobs, employ people. EVERY LITTLE BIT helps the economy. Otherwise, kindly shut up. Free speech isn't free when it annoys the hell out of everyone with more than two brain cells to rub together.
Colin Powell looked great and has great rhythm. Shi ke nan.
People and over analyzation sha....All this "outrage" over trivial stuff MUST be draining.
This must be the happiest picture I have seen in a long , long time. You made my day with this
Hi,
I am from Cameroon and i just want to attribute to the comments.Actually,i am a small player in the game but i don't know why we all have to be sending comments as if its a crime.I just came across a good article stating that When Sisqo,R.Kelly ,M Jackson and others are coming out with their own Lyrics why cant they be blackmailed ?
Looking back at what the people of these advanced world in General did to us during the colonial Era,i think Powell is dancing to the dream of Martin Luther that has just come true.
Its a time for the blacks to take over power in all domain after how many years of seating behind the white mans house.
Naturally Africans were born intelligent and i think God is the giver of all intelligence hence the Almighty God is not a fool to install this scheme in the blacks brain.
What Scammers take from the whites can be refered to as "drinking from the back of the bottle" because if we are suffering frequent financial and political effects here in Africa,it is because of the presence of the whites here in Africa during the colonial era.
It can also be tamed " the white man forgot one of his criminal record books in the house of the black man when he was parking out of Africa"
I just want to have a reply from some one at
father.peterson@yahoo.com.
Hi Powell.I am impressed about this article because i have been strugling for quite a long time to unleash this article from my stomach as a history student.Considering the Ills of the whites on the African Continent.
Stay Blessed.
Special Regards to Olu Maintain .
If any one can get me connected to Olu,then he is under the umbrella of Lincoln.
@Anonymous I can connect you with Olu, but first, you have to wire $500 to my account for the paperwork involved. :D
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