Oludemilade Martin Alejo (born 29 January 1993), known professionally as Ycee (pronounced ; also stylized as YCee), is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

rapper, singer and songwriter. He gained popularity after his single "Condo", which features vocals by

Patoranking Patrick Nnaemeka Okorie (born 27 May 1990), better known by his stage name Patoranking, is a Nigerian Afrobeats and reggae-dancehall singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Ebute Metta community of Lagos, he grew up sharing one room with his ...

, earned him two nominations at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. He was also nominated for Best Artist in African Pop at the 2015 All Africa Music Awards and for Next Rated at The Headies 2016. Ycee signed a record deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

in October 2016, but terminated his contract with the label in February 2018.

Early life and education

Ycee was born in Festac Town, a housing estate in Lagos State, Nigeria. He completed his

basic education According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and secondary education, lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavi ...

at Dr. Soyemi Memorial Nursery and Primary School. He attended the Nigerian Navy Secondary School in Ojo for his secondary education. Ycee studied

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

Career

Ycee started his music career in 2012 as an underground rapper. He signed a record deal with Tinny Entertainment. Due to his educational engagements, he took a brief hiatus from music after gaining admission to the

. Ycee released the critically acclaimed song "Condo" in May 2015; it was nominated for Best Collaboration of the Year and Best Music Video of the Year at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. On 20 July 2015, he released the hit single "Jagaban". Nigerian rapper

Olamide Olamide Gbenga Adedeji (born 15 March 1989) is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is regarded as one of the most influential artists in Nigeria and Africa and has been crucial to the creative and commercial succe ...

asked him to be featured on the remix. He gained further exposure after receiving a nomination for Revelation of the Year at the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards. Moreover, he was nominated for Best Artist in African Pop at the 2015 All Africa Music Awards. On 25 June 2017, "Juice" featuring

Maleek Berry Okunola Abdul Maleek Anu-Oluwapo Shoyebi (born 11 August 1987), professionally known as Maleek Berry, is a British-Nigerian record producer and recording artist. After his break into the spotlight in 2012, Maleek Berry was nominated as "Music Pr ...

became the most popular new music on Nigeria radio, ranked number 1 by Playdata charts. Ycee sold out a headline gig at the

O2 Academy Islington The O2 Academy Islington, formerly known as the Carling Academy Islington, is an indoor music venue situated in the N1 Shopping Centre accessible via Upper Street and Liverpool Road, in the London Borough of Islington. It is run by the Academy ...

on 12 January 2018. The gig featured additional performances from his label mates Bella Alubo, Sona,

Eugy Eugene Entsir, professionally known as Eugy, is a Ghanaian-British singer, rapper, and songwriter. Career Eugy started writing and recording music at around age 14, having moved to London, UK from Ghana eight years prior. He originally started ...

, Ms. Banks and Flosha. On 15 January 2019, he announced on Instagram that he left Tinny Entertainment. He also announced the launch of his record label ANBT, an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for Ain't Nobody Badder Than. Ycee released his debut studio album ''Ycee vs Zaheer'' on 8 November 2019. It is a mixture of

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, trap,

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

, Afro-house, hyphy, R&B and alte. The album serves as the follow-up to his 8-track debut EP ''First Wave'' (2017) and his collaborative EP with Bella Alubo, titled ''Late Night Vibrations'' (2018). The album was produced by Adey, Jay Bidz, Ballertosh, Fanatix, BeatsbyKarma, Syn X, Krizbeatz, Jay Popping, Buzzin Producer, AP Da Don, Two Seven, Elmore, Willis Give Dem and KO. It features collaborations with

Davido David Adedeji Adeleke (born November 21, 1992), known professionally as Davido, is a Nigerian American, Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and record producer. Davido was born in Atlanta, U.S, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. He made his mus ...

, Niniola,

Phyno Chibuzo Nelson Azubuike (; born 9 October 1986), who is known professionally as Phyno, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Phyno was born and raised in Enugu State but is a native of Anambra State. He started his musi ...

, Ms Banks and Dapo Tuburna. Over the course of his career and since his rise to prominence, Ycee has featured on notable records to break upcoming artists. He featured on records to break his label mate Dapo Turbuna "Nothing" Remix in 2016, Label Mate

Bella Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, and to the name Belle (given name), Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in F ...

on Radio in 2017 before going ahead to create a joint EP with her Late Night Vibrations. Ycee also featured on Big Man Doingz by Arosino alongside Dapo Tuburna and Karma. Some Say it was his way of giving back to emerging artistes as he was once on the receiving end of such impact through Olamide on his remix to Jagaban, his breakthrough single.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Ycee vs Zaheer'' (2019)

EPs

*''First Wave'' (2017) *''Late Night Vibrations'' (with Bella Alubo) (2018) *''Love Drunk'' (2021)

Selected songs

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 births Living people Rappers from Lagos State Musicians from Lagos State Nigerian male musicians Nigerian male rappers 21st-century male rappers Yoruba musicians English-language singers from Nigeria Yoruba-language singers of Nigeria The Headies winners