“Lyricapitalism” in Nigerian Hip-Hop Subculture: Language, Cyber-Scam Representations, and the End of Sleep

This article aims to theorize the concept of “lyricapitalism” to spark a dialogue around the constellation of antinomies that popular music in Nigeria, especially hip-hop, navigates, grapples with, and articulates. By lyricapitalism, I mean lyrical representations of capitalist ideologies, most notably obsession with money, sleeplessness, and cyber-scam culture. I situate lyricapitalism in relation toJonathan Crary’s framework of 24/7 capitalism and Cedric Robinson’s idea of racial capitalism. I argue that Nigerian hip-hop’s lyricapitalism must be interrogated and deconstructed in the context of local and global power relations that marginalize most Nigerian youths and colonially configure them for disposability. I conclude that a new subculture of Nigerian hip-hop is emerging that represents counterculture as authenticity, aesthetics, resistance, and subversion.