Afrobeats sensation Bella Shmurda has called out the reckless spending culture plaguing Nigeria’s music industry, revealing how financial mismanagement is leaving many artists broke and dependent on record labels.
Speaking candidly on the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the ‘Cash App’ hitmaker exposed how peers squander earnings on flashy luxuries instead of investing in their careers – a costly mistake he admits making early in his own journey.
Shmurda challenged the industry’s obsession with material displays of wealth, arguing that true branding comes from personal presentation rather than expensive jewellery and cars that often plunge artists into lifelong debt.
“Real packaging isn’t about dripping in diamonds,” the artist asserted. “Looking fresh with clean clothes, good hygiene and confidence – that’s proper branding. Some of us came up without chains and still stood out. These young acts don’t understand they’re signing away their catalogs just to flex for Instagram.”
He continued with a sobering warning: “That’s why you see talented artists stuck in bad deals for years – they blow advances on Range Rovers instead of funding new projects. I learned this lesson the hard way, and we need to start teaching financial literacy alongside music workshops.”