Nigerian rapper YCee has expressed concern over what he described as society’s growing obsession with wealth, saying the relentless pursuit of money has negatively affected people’s values and behaviour.
Speaking in a recent interview, the rapper argued that there are countries facing war and even greater hardship than Nigeria where people do not display the same level of questionable conduct, adding that many now justify wrongdoing with the mindset that “so long as you make money.”
Addressing the controversy surrounding the “Olodo Uprising” phrase, YCee clarified that he did not coin the expression and insisted his comments were misunderstood by those who accused him of being classist or elitist.
The rapper also reflected on his educational journey, revealing that he only holds a secondary school certificate. He explained that he had hoped to study Computer Science at the University of Lagos but was unable to meet the admission cut-off mark at the time.
In his words:
“I hate what the pursuit of money has done to us as a society. There are societies that are worse off than Nigeria. War-torn societies where people do not behave as badly as Nigerians. And the excuse is always, so long as you make money.
“The whole Olodo Uprising frenzy, I didn’t coin the phrase. I feel a lot of people missed my point and are trying to make it seem as though I was classist or elitist because I have some level of education. Mind you, I just have my school cert o. I don’t have a university degree.
“It got to some point in SS2 when I couldn’t read anymore, I was like I’m done. I had wanted to study Computer Science, but I couldn’t meet the cut-off to study in UNILAG. But now they’ve reduced the cut-off; maybe if I had written now, I’d have gotten Computer Science.”