Nigerian music star Bella Shmurda has expressed concern over how excessive spending habits are hurting the careers of many of his peers in the industry.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the “Cash App” hitmaker explained that many artistes struggle to finance their music projects independently because they exhaust their funds on non-essential luxuries. According to him, this financial recklessness often leaves them reliant on major record labels to continue their careers.
Shmurda admitted that he once made the same mistake at the onset of his success but eventually realized the importance of financial discipline.
He emphasized that flashy lifestyles and expensive items like jewelry and luxury cars are not necessary to establish a strong brand identity.
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He said, “I don’t think packaging has to be materialistic. Having good clothes on you, looking nice, nice skin, brushing your teeth, smelling well is okay, if you know how to dress without chains. I mean some of us don’t have these things before, and we looked good. This guy doesn’t have a chain on, and he looks good. He’s not dirty. I mean, that’s packaged enough for your purpose.”
He added that the obsession with high-end image has driven many young artistes to seek upfront payments from record labels, which often leaves them trapped in long-term debts.
“It’s because of the too much emphasis on expensive packaging that our young artists now run towards advances and they end up being indebted to those companies. And the companies have to hold their catalogue for years. It’s because of these materials things that they go into debts. They can’t even fund their next project because they do use their money buy big motor. I made that mistake too but I learnt. And I feel like we just have to educate ourselves about these things,” he said.
