The first time I ever heard the name “Yahoozee” was about five or six months ago when I was going somewhere in the same car with my boss. We were approaching a Volkswagen bus parked on a street by a mobile retailer with music blaring from some 250 watts speakers.

My boss hummed the song and asked me: “Is that Yahoozee they are playing?”

“What’s that?” I asked myself. I had heard the music before, but I had no idea what they were singing. Not wanting to betray my ignorance, I mumbled a response which was neither here nor there.

“But what is Yahoozee?” I continued to ask myself until I got home.

“What is Yahoozee?” I asked my wife.

“Oh, it is that music by Olu Maintain,” she responded. “And why are you asking?”

I explained to her what happened in the course of the day.

“Ah,” she screamed. “I can’t believe your boss was singing that song. It’s talking about taking your money and buying a Hummer Jeep. It’s a 419 song.”

As a rule, we do not allow dirty songs in our home, especially because of the children. We decided long ago that it would be better to guard and guide their growing-up years jealousy so that they would grow up with as little garbage as possible. But the television has given us quite a run for our money on this and we seem to be losing it by the day.

The first time I heard my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and her two-year-old sister sing “Do Me, I Do You,” I had no idea what they were talking about. With time I understood the lyrics of the song and had to explain to them it was not good for them to sing that kind of song. The problem is: they know a lot of ‘good’ people who sing it. So why should they not?

Any time I take them to a children’s party, you can be certain it will not end until they have played “Do Me” and “Yahoozee.” And my children would look at me with their eyes wide open. I usually understand the message. In their childhood innocence, what they are saying is: “Daddy, do something.” But sadly, I really cannot do anything about it when I hear children sing dirty songs or take amorous or seductive dance steps. And it is creating problems for me in my relationship with my children.

Do not get me wrong: I do not have anything against P-Square or Olu maintain. But I do not think “Do Me” and “Yahoozee" are meant for children. Unfortunately, children everywhere seem to love the music.

You can therefore imagine my shock when I got home recently and my wife said worriedly, “You will not believe what your daughter said they were taught in school today!”

“What was she taught?” I asked apprehensively.

“Yahoozee. And she can even dance Yahoozee now.”

That was unbelievable! I had taken time to pick a school for them and had put them in one where I knew the proprietor as well as the head teacher. To the best of my knowledge, they are very godly people, and they would never recruit or retain any teacher who has a major character flaw. So what is happening?

“Lisette,” my wife called out to our first daughter, “come and dance Yahoozee for your daddy.”

My daughter runs out in disbelief and looked at me starry-eyed. Then her mother assured her there was no problem; Daddy just wanted to see if she could dance Yahoozee.

“OK,” she said, “Daddy, let me dance Yahoozee for you.”

Truly, she could dance Yahoozee perfectly well now – I mean that dance they dance with two fingers in the air. More shocking was the fact that her two-year-old sister could dance it even better.

“Who taught you how to dance Yahoozee?” I asked her.

“Miss Helen,” she said.

And that is the head teacher who is a youth pastor in her church - a leading Pentecostal denomination. Maybe I wrongly assumed that they should know what to teach my children in school. But I do not pay for my children every term what three generations of the Ojenagbon family did not pay all these years as school fees so that they would be taught how to dance Yahoozee. Or is there something about Yahoozee I do not know…before I lodge a formal complaint?    

Robot  # 1 | 12.03.2008 11:59

Maybe I wro...Read the full article.

WaleAkin  # 2 | 12.03.2008 13:44

Abeg Bros no kill me with laughter! The dance step called Yahoozee did not start with the music by Olu Maintain: Its been in existence well before the song came out. Its a dance step that replaced the popular Galala brought by Daddy Showkey and the AJ boys. Yahoozee dance step has eaten deep into the culture that its even danced in the church, you will see Pastors with their 2 fingers in the air and twisting their eye balls as if they've been hypnotised or something. I consider it a funny dance step especially when Kids booggy down You see, Madness elsewhere is innovation in Lagos, Nigeria Wale

OverLoad  # 3 | 12.03.2008 14:11

Lol let these kids be kids..... That dance move ws not discovered by olu-maintain ...bt made more popular by him. Like Mr wale sd it had been in existence b4 olu's song.... Check some of the 9ja hip-hop songs that came out b4 olu-maintain u will see some dude drop his head like he just heard he failed WAEC...while he wounds it back up gesticulating with his hands. They do the head thing..like ..u don kolo...if u know some song called kolomentality i think by some dude...they dance with their head and hands. Kids will always be kids...just like when lepa gaou came out... at every party...u will see lil kids take over the dance floor in their cinderella outfit doing "oni kpele nepa gauoo" or awilo logomba..sticking their lil bums out and winding their waist. ..they dance galala too..the open and closing of legs..while u do ur hand like u r tieing it and pulling a thread out..... I understand ur worry as a parent to curtail wat ur kids lissen to, bt trust me they dont understand the song as much as they understand the dance. The dance is danced everywhere.....even church...u will hear "Today oo I will lift up my voice in praise" and suddenly u will see ppl throwing there hands up like they are searching for something while lifting their left or right shoulder....I swear muslims too dance the song...like asalam malakum while the sway their body to the left with their hands yahoozeing... The dance is clean at least compared to 'lepa gauo' , makossa and dem galala. I think its interesting shaa....at least some fresh air after ppl wan dance lepa gaou die.. Tho ppl likened olu's song to 419 its nt really all about that...its a song about hustlers and flambouyant life-style of nigerians. ....like u hustle during the week and u un-wind during the weekends...dat could be 419 s or 9-5ners..:D

Mutti  # 4 | 12.03.2008 16:00

I am sorry I had to laugh at something you find so painful. TV and radio let the ghetto into our living rooms a long time ago, and it is a worldwide phenomenon! From fifty pence to daddy show key, same thing. Unfortunately I don't know the musicians you mentioned nor have ever heard my songs but I bet my children do, only they know enough not to sing it to my hearing. Can't imagine what the dance must be like I have never seen it either. Oh the bliss of ignorance!

enna inot  # 5 | 13.03.2008 03:27

Mr Sylvester thanks for your article. PLEASE PLEASE do not relent in your effort to raise your children as garbage free as possible.Never tire of letting them know that some songs are just not meant for children just like some movies.Regulatory bodies should control these songs instead of banning them like they do at times.Since these bodies have forsaken their duties,parents should not forsake their God-given responsibilty.That pastors or so-called Godly people are doing the dance,is not a yardstick for what is right for your children.If they have chosen to listen to these songs glorifying swindling and sex,as adults that is their lot and they have the right to.But pls teach your children the right thing,when they grow up they can do as their conscience says.

Ani  # 6 | 13.03.2008 04:11

I want laugh die! I cringe in shock when i have to attend children's birthday parties. The way the little girls dance sensually really affects my sensibilities and the amazing thing is that you see the parents cheering them on. i am not holy holy holy, but e get some things wey just no dey right.

calist  # 7 | 13.03.2008 04:35

Sylvester, I was hit with the same shock as yours during my December visit to Nigeria. Having seeing my little nieces and nephews sing the kolomenta, do me and yahoozee, I was forced to not only hear the songs but watch their videos. The songs sure have its way with kids and adults alike. As if that is not enough, the manner in which the kids are able to flow and sing these songs is alarming. Any away like every other musical trend, these too with surely fade away.

dodua  # 8 | 13.03.2008 06:20

:dhello Sir I Wont Say That I Did Not Laff Meself Hard When I Read Your Plight I Think You Shld Proceed With Caution These Are Hard Times Parents R Doin Their Best 23 Protect Their Children But It Seems D Harder They Try The More They Come With More Obstacles.my Advice Is Try 2 Let Them Kno D Implications Of D Almighty Media- Who R Definitely Our Cross In These Modern Times-and Trust That The Strong Foundation Given Them Will Last Long Enough 2 Help Them Make D Right Decisions But Dont Fret 2 Much........i Kno Its Natural As A Parent 2 Be Dat Way.........:)

Styles  # 9 | 13.03.2008 08:17

YAHOOZE AND ITS INHERENT DANGER(S): Act 1: Scene 1; (Enter the acclaimed maintain duo) Olu is an accomplished act in Nigeria and perhaps the diaspora, I simply love the way the duo (maintain) injected humour and entertainment into an otherwise dwindling Nigerian music scene. I remember the way this guys and their music would simply serenade and appeal to you irrespective of age and gender. Back then, they left you enthralled and asking for more with their fluid blend of scintillating jibes at corrupt leaders and social vices of all forms as well as an unprecedented act of comical relief all fused into their unique brand of music. They showed their compassionate side when they sang a tribute to victims of an ammunition bomb blast in a military barrack in Lagos, couple of years back. What more could any sane human ask of a young, talented and enterprising duo. Suffice to say they were an embodiment of positive act, role model, self-belief and achievers for the youth. Act 1: Scene 2; (Enter Chubby looking Olu)........Hmnnn persistence and hard work pays, what with Olu globe-trotting, making good money and receiving kudos from the general public for his now famous YAHOOZEE music. But hold up, does any one really know what Yahoozee implies? Not to our so-called intellectual adult who can distinguish between right and wrong. I'm talking about the daddy's girls and boys, the misguided youth (and even adult) who has turned 419er because of a decadent in the system, which is now designed to frustrate people who work hard. Maybe I've gotten it all wrong somewhere.........so I'd like to share with ya'll the connotation of YAHOOzee from my own perspective. Simply put, Yahoo in the Nigerian diction translates into fraud. Little wonder why the un-employed youth (who's into fraudulent activities aka 419) readily identifies with the song. I'm not taking anything way from Olu, that music is simply delight to the ears in terms of compostion and rhymes; obviously one would naturally dance to it. But the unconscious message such music is passing across to young and impressionable mind seems to have been lost on us all as we're all too busy nodding our heads and working our fingers. With the embrace and endorsement the music is getting from all and sundry......there's really no stopping yahoozee, is it? Remember' we'll be the same one blaming Government for a flawed and morally bankrupt society. Have we paused to check out our actions as well? Final Scene: I'm not anti-social by any means, I listen to ASA, Sasha, TY-Bello, Rugged man, 9ice and I can damn well shame a teen-ager on the dance-floor with the latest dance -move..............but yahoozee...hell no. Olu you did it once, you've done it once more with the dexterity you've shown in your latest work. Make me believe in you once more by coming out with that positively spiced act that once defined you.

Multioption  # 10 | 13.03.2008 09:53

=calist>I was hit with the same shock as yours during my December visit to Nigeria. Having seeing my little nieces and nephews sing the kolomenta, do me and yahoozee, I was forced to not only hear the songs but watch their videos. The songs sure have its way with kids and adults alike. As if that is not enough, the manner in which the kids are able to flow and sing these songs is alarming. Any away like every other musical trend, these too with surely fade away. I can identify with the sentence in bold, Calist. I was curious to find out the fuss about Yahoozee song, so I bought a copy of the VCD yesterday; found it interesting save for the cosmetics that portray a loathsome lifestyle.

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---