Nigerian rapper and singer Ycee has revealed that he has been battling bipolar disorder since 2020, opening up on how the condition affected his mental health, creativity and music career.
The 33-year-old artiste disclosed during an appearance on the Afropolitan Podcast that he was diagnosed with the condition during the COVID-19 lockdown while living in London, marking the beginning of what he described as a difficult six-year journey.
The rapper, whose real name is Oludemilade Martin Alejo, said the diagnosis came at a time when he had little understanding of mental health issues and was forced to navigate treatment and recovery while away from home.
“In 2020, I got diagnosed with a mental health condition, and that was during lockdown. I was in London, deep down into lockdown. I was in and out of the hospital for maybe 3 months,” he said.
Ycee explained that he eventually had to leave the United Kingdom because of visa restrictions and returned to Lagos, where he continued treatment.
“Before 2020, mental health was a statement that I hadn’t uttered before. Coming back to Lagos and getting into mental health in Nigeria, it was a very long six years,” he said.
The artist said the period was marked by medication, therapy sessions and repeated hospitalisations as he struggled to manage the condition.
“I was on medication, and I was hospitalised several times. I was dealing with therapy. So many things. Sometimes, it looked good. Sometimes, it just gets like really dark,” he added.
Ycee further revealed that the illness significantly affected his creativity and contributed to his prolonged absence from the music industry.
Reflecting on the period, he said his last project, “Love Drunk,” released in 2021, did not receive the level of promotion he would ordinarily have given it because of his mental state at the time.
“My last project was in 2021, ‘Love Drunk’, but I didn’t apply myself enough to push that because of the state of mind I was in. The last single I released in 2022 as well, there was so much going on,” he said.
The rapper also spoke about the challenge of adjusting to life after the diagnosis, noting that he spent years trying to reconnect with the person he was before the condition altered the course of his life.
“The last four years have just been me trying to know who I used to be, but at a point, I just realised that that boy was not coming back, so I had to look forward. I think by the end of 2024, things started looking up again, and I started feeling more like myself,” he said.
According to him, the most difficult aspect of the experience was its impact on his ability to make music, which had always come naturally to him.
“The darkest part of everything I went to was how it affected my creativity. You know, because my making music is something I find quite naturally. I would be in sessions, and my brain is just foggy,” he said.
When asked to identify the condition he had been battling, the artiste responded simply: “Bipolar disorder.”
Ycee rose to prominence after the success of his hit single “Condo” featuring Patoranking, which earned him two nominations at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. He later released other popular songs, including “Jagaban” and “Omo Alhaji,” and received nominations at major award platforms such as the All Africa Music Awards and The Headies.
The rapper signed with Sony Music in 2016 but exited the label in 2018 following a turbulent stint. He also parted ways with Tinny Entertainment in 2019.
