Ycee, born Oludemilade Martin Alejo, is a new Nigerian rapper who is making his mark in the Nigerian music scene. Only starting his career in 2013 he has made great leaps towards countrywide recognition. After releasing his most known single, “Condo,” Ycee was nominated for two awards at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. Although he did not win, he still made a huge name for himself since he just started, then, 2 years prior.
Like most African artist, education is extremely important, so after his 2012 debut, he took time off to focus on attaining acceptance to the University of Lagos. Whilst studying Marine Biology, he is making a lot of noise in the music industry; especially on July 20th, 2015 when he released “Jagaban.”
This song received copious amounts of airtime and even gained attention from other Nigerian artist. In this song Ycee combines english and his native tongue to rap over the unusual hip hop beat. While the beat is almost techno like, Ycee maintains a unique flow that glides over the track. He shows his techniques differently on this track by changing his flow from his previous reggae/dancehall song “Condo.” In this upbeat song, Ycee discusses the meaning of Jagaban and how he is the Jagaban of rap. This song along with a few other tracks have gained him an immense amount of popularity. It is said that 2016 is his year to really blow up and that is shown with his first award at the Headies awards show for Rookie of the Year.