Oludemilade Martin Alejo (born January 29, 1993), known professionally as Ycee (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 taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

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 reggae-dancehall singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Ijegun-Egba Satellite Town, Patoranking hails from Onicha, Ebonyi State. He starte ...

, 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 All Africa Music Awards (also referred to as AFRIMA) is an annual awards event. The awards event was established by the International Committee AFRIMA, in collaboration with the African Union (AU) to reward and celebrate musical works, talents ...

and for Next Rated at

The Headies 2016 The Headies 2016 was the 11th edition of The Headies. It was held on December 22, 2016, at the Eko Convention Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. Themed "Think, Create, Recreate", the event was hosted by Adesua Etomi and Falz. The nominees were an ...

. Ycee signed a record deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

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

Early life and education

Ycee was born in

Festac Town Festac Town is a federal housing estate located along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Lagos State, Nigeria. Its name is derived from the acronym FESTAC, which stands for Second World African Festival of Arts and Culture that was held there in 197 ...

, 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 lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavily in the 1997 ISCED ...

at Dr. Soyemi Memorial Nursery and Primary School. He attended the Nigerian Navy Secondary School in

Ojo Ojo may refer to: *Ōjō, a Japanese Buddhist term referring to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha *Ojo, a curious red bear cub who has a wild imagination and is good friends with Treelo on ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' * ''Ojo'' (comi ...

for his secondary education. Ycee studied

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

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. Widely regarded as one of the biggest and most influential artists in Africa, he has been instrumental to the launching of the careers ...

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 The MTV Africa Music Awards (also known as the MAMAs) were established in 2008 by MTV Networks Africa (now Viacom International Media Networks Africa) to celebrate the most popular contemporary music in Africa. The 2008 and 2010 events took pla ...

. Moreover, he was nominated for Best Artist in African Pop at the 2015

. 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 Bella Alubo (born Mabel Alubo, 9 August 1993) is a Nigerian musician, alternative R&B, hip hop singer and songwriter, formerly signed under Tinny Entertainment alongside Ycee. Early life Alubo hails from Benue State, Nigeria, was born and raised ...

, Sona,

Eugy Eugene Entsir, professionally known as Eugy, is a Ghanaian, British singer, rapper, and songwriter. He is best known for his 2016 International hit single "Dance For Me" alongside Mr Eazi, which led to a 2017 MOBO Awards nomination. In 2018, Eugy ...

Ms. Banks Thyra Kigho Deshaun Oji, better known by her stage name Ms Banks, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Camberwell, London. Oji has released three mixtapes as Ms Banks. In 2014, she released her first mixtape titled ''Once Upon a Grind ...

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 word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

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,

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

Afrobeats Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...

, 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

, 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), popularly known by his stage name Davido, is an American-Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. His music blends traditional African elements with global mainstream pop. Davido is widel ...

Niniola Niniola Apata (born 15 December 1986), known professionally as Niniola, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. She participated in the sixth season of ''Project Fame West Africa'' in 2013. After releasing her debut single "Ibadi", she was nominated ...

Phyno Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike (born 9 October 1986), populary known as Phyno Fino, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He started his music career as a producer in 2003, and is renowned for rapping in the Igbo language. His ...

, 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, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...

o
Radio
in 2017 before going ahead to create a joint EP with he
(Late Night Vibrations
. Ycee also featured o
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 t
Jagaban
his breakthrough single.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Ycee vs Zaheer'' (2019)

EPs

*''First Wave'' (2017) *''Late Night Vibrations'' (with

) (2018) *Love Drunk (2021)

Selected songs

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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