Popular Nigerian content creator and streamer, Habeeb Hamzat, popularly known as Peller, has fired back at rapper Ycee after being named in a viral interview criticising the country’s paradigm shift from rewarding academic excellence to accommodating ignorance.
The public spat erupted during an interview on the Afropolitan Podcast, where Ycee bemoaned the collapse of academic value and respect for intellectualism in Nigeria.
The rapper described a shift from “Yahoo culture” (internet fraud) to a “Peller culture”.
He warned that society is catering to ignorance and rewarding people who strictly do “dumb, crazy shit” online for clicks and numbers.
“We now have an Olodo uprising, and it’s terrible. It’s like we’re trying to accommodate unintelligent and ignorant people because we don’t want them to feel bad, so now they are becoming the majority,” he said. “There is a massive attack on the educational system in Nigeria. Society is no longer celebrating academic excellence.
People don’t even want to go to school anymore. “Now, it isn’t just the Yahoo culture; we also have the Peller culture. If we keep rewarding these guys, people will start to believe that all they need to do is say or do something dumb, outrageous, or obscene online to get the clicks and numbers.
“Then what message are we sending to the rest of the impressionable young people out there? No shade to Peller, though. I have nothing against him personally.” Peller, however, took strong exception to being singled out.
Reacting in an Instagram post, Peller accused Ycee of hypocrisy and disrespect, arguing that the very “olodo” figures the rapper condemns are the ones amplifying his own music and career.
Peller branded the rapper an “illiterate” for publicly naming him and criticized established celebrities for exploiting viral internet trends for their own music promotion.
He claimed that many high-profile Nigerian artists hypocritically bash internet streamers publicly but secretly beg them for favors behind the scenes.
Peller alleged that these celebrities frequently slide into influencers’ direct messages (DMs), offering money to have TikTokers use their songs for promotional viral dances and trends.
“The same olodo uprising wey una dey use promote una noise, very anyhow OG. If you’re an elderly person, respect yourself. Must you mention names? “You yourself are an illiterate because, as an elderly man with sense, you should be able to make your point without mentioning anyone’s name,” he wrote.
