The Story
[INTRO – DJ NAH LIE – pirate signal, notification cascade, beat builds]
[vinyl scratch]
You are tuned in to DJ Nah Lie — Live. Broadcasting. Unmonetised.
In the studio tonight — Professor Boboyi.
(Ọba kò sọ̀rọ̀ lẹ́ẹ̀mejì — tonight he speaks into this pirate microphone.)
The algorithm knows your face. Your content. Your postcode.
(Na lie? — knows everything except how to process your payment. Na lie?)
[VERSE 1 – DJ NAH LIE – Afro-Grime, satirical broadcaster]
Breaking news — African creators are the inventory, not the industry
(You generate the content — they own the context — the distinction is the territory)
Ten million views — the algorithm flagged the background music on day three
(The copyright claim filed itself — the ad revenue went to the automated beneficiary)
TikTok Creator Fund launched America 2020 — arrived Nigeria: timeline unconfirmed
(Eighty million Nigerian users — monetisation schedule: we will update you, we find)
YouTube: one thousand subscribers, four thousand watch hours to qualify
(Threshold identical Lagos and Los Angeles — the CPM per thousand in Lagos is not)
Shadowbanned — we suppressed your reach but cannot confirm in writing
(Afrobeats: suitable. EndSARS content: not suitable. The platform has its preferences.)
Na lie?
[PRE-CHORUS]
They said: democratise the creative economy — (na lie — privatised the return)
They said: every creator gets an equal shot — (na lie — unequal algorithmic outcome)
They said: your content speaks for itself — (na lie — the algorithm is monolingual)
Na lie?
[CHORUS]
THE ALGORITHM KNOWS! (knows!)
Knows your face and your data! (data!)
THE ALGORITHM KNOWS! (knows!)
Made you build — won’t compensate ya!
Ten million views — where’s the cheque?
One rule in Accra, another in Quebec!
THE ALGORITHM KNOWS — NA LIE!
[VERSE 2 – BOBOYI – pedagogical baritone, Fuji percussion]
Ọba kò sọ̀rọ̀ lẹ́ẹ̀mejì —
The attention economy is a plantation model in a new suit — digital fabric, same architecture
(The creator is the crop — the platform is the estate — the advertiser sets the price)
Platform revenue Nigeria 2024: published. Disbursement to creators: not published.
(Behavioural data from African content trains the global AI pipeline — that’s the paradigm)
Lagos creator makes content. Algorithm suppresses Lagos reach. London: amplified.
(Content identical — geography is the variable — outcome the platforms will not publish)
Ọba kò sọ̀rọ̀ lẹ́ẹ̀mejì.
[PRE-CHORUS – DJ NAH LIE + BOBOYI]
[DJ NAH LIE] The algorithm sees you!
[BOBOYI] But does it pay you?
[BOTH] The algorithm knows — and it smiles. Na lie?
[CHORUS]
THE ALGORITHM KNOWS! Knows your face and your data!
Made you build — won’t compensate ya! NA LIE!
[BRIDGE – DJ NAH LIE – log drum and piano only]
Here is what the algorithm knows: your existence. Your language. Your culture.
(Na lie? — your culture is in the training data — that’s the product specification)
Here is what the algorithm does not know: how to process your payment.
(It knows how to pay some — hasn’t located the code for your postcode. That is the design.)
The Nollywood director in Surulere. The Afrobeats producer in Ikeja.
The beauty influencer in Accra. The photographer in Nairobi.
All with the same camera. All with the same reach suppressor.
Equal access is not equal treatment. Na lie?
[FINAL CHORUS]
THE ALGORITHM KNOWS! Made you build — won’t compensate ya!
Na lie? — ask the shadowban — NA LIE!
[OUTRO]
[DJ NAH LIE] This was DJ Nah Lie and Professor Boboyi — Unmonetised. Unsponsored.
NMC — Naira Music Cartel — zero platform dependency.
[BOBOYI] The lesson is on the record. Ọba kò sọ̀rọ̀ lẹ́ẹ̀mejì.
[DJ NAH LIE] Na lie? …No. Just the curriculum. Pirate edition. Na lie.
[Fuji percussion — vinyl scratch fades]