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Cheques or dating scams? Online fraud themes in hip-hop songs across popular music apps

Suleman Lazarus ; Olatunji Olaigbe ; Ayo Adeduntan ; Edward T. Dibiana ; Geoffrey U. Okolorie (2023) — Journal of Economic Criminology

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconc.2023.100033 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   United Kingdom
Tags:   Cyber Spiritualism, Hip Hop Lyrics, Moral Disengagement, Music Lyrics, Music Streaming, Music Streaming Platforms, Nigerian Hip Hop, Online Fraud, Romance Scams, Streaming Platforms, Yahoo Boys
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Synopsis

            
The study qualitatively analyzed lyrics from 33 Nigerian hip-hop songs produced June 2017-July 2023 and available across major streaming apps. Songs explicitly referenced Yahoo Boys, fraud actions, prominent fraudsters, or relevant slang. Using a directed approach to qualitative content analysis, researchers applied predetermined moral-disengagement and Yahoo Plus codes, adding categories where needed. The songs blamed and dehumanized victims of online romance fraud. Cyber spiritualism was identified as a contextual theme in Nigerian fraud-related lyrics. The sample was limited to lyrics from 33 Nigerian hip-hop songs on popular streaming platforms, omitting interviews, surveys, field observations, social media, and other data sources.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper identifies limited criminological scholarship on cyber-fraud portrayals in Nigerian hip-hop, especially songs released after 2017. Earlier studies did not examine the supernatural dimension of fraud in lyrics. Mainstream online-fraud narratives are said to lack Nigerian scholars’ insights. The authors also argue that victim-only research limits understanding of scammers’ terminology, worldviews, ideologies, and motivations.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
The study qualitatively analyzed lyrics from 33 Nigerian hip-hop songs produced June 2017–July 2023 and available across major streaming apps. Songs explicitly referenced Yahoo Boys, fraud actions, prominent fraudsters, or relevant slang. Using a directed approach to qualitative content analysis, researchers applied predetermined moral-disengagement and Yahoo Plus codes, adding categories where needed. Three team members coded all data; two reviewed 20%, yielding 92% similarity.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The sample was limited to lyrics from 33 Nigerian hip-hop songs on popular streaming platforms, omitting interviews, surveys, field observations, social media, and other data sources. Its Nigerian hip-hop focus may not generalize to other regions or music genres. Directed qualitative coding may introduce interpretive subjectivity and bias. The authors also note that southern-Nigerian concentration in prior cybercrime research may affect generalizability regarding regional patterns.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Future research should use unconventional, non-conventional data sources to capture nuanced cultural attitudes, epistemologies, and dynamics surrounding fraud. Researchers studying fraud victims should integrate unconventional perpetrator-oriented sources, such as music lyrics. The authors also call for more robust empirical exploration of lyrical messages, cultural influence, and unintended endorsements as a regional and global phenomenon.

          

              

    
    

        
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