Nigerian rapper and singer Ycee has opened up about his long-running struggle with bipolar disorder, revealing that the mental health condition significantly impacted his creativity, personal life, and music career over the past six years.
The 33-year-old artiste, born Oludemilade Martin Alejo, made the disclosure during a recent appearance on the Afropolitan Podcast, where he reflected on the challenges he has faced since being diagnosed during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
According to Ycee, the diagnosis came while he was living in London at the height of the pandemic, a period he described as one of the most difficult chapters of his life.
“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 three months,” he said.
The rapper explained that visa limitations eventually forced him to leave the United Kingdom and return to Lagos, where he continued treatment and began learning more about mental health.
“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 stated.
Ycee disclosed that his recovery journey involved medication, therapy sessions, and multiple 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 really dark,” he added.
The award-nominated artiste noted that the illness contributed to his reduced presence in the music industry and affected the promotion of his projects. He cited his 2021 project, Love Drunk, as an example, explaining that he was unable to fully support the release because of his mental state.
“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.
Reflecting on the emotional toll of the diagnosis, Ycee said he spent years trying to reconnect with the version of himself he was before the condition altered his life. However, he eventually accepted the need to move forward and embrace a new reality.
“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 explained.
The rapper described the impact on his creativity as the darkest aspect of the experience, noting that making music had always come naturally to him before the illness.
“The darkest part of everything I went through was how it affected my creativity. 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, Ycee confirmed it was bipolar disorder.
Ycee rose to prominence with the hit single Condo featuring Patoranking, earning widespread recognition and award nominations. He later released successful tracks such as Jagaban and Omo Alhaji, cementing his place in Nigeria’s music scene. Over the years, he has also received nominations at major award platforms, including The Headies and the All Africa Music Awards.
The artiste signed with Sony Music in 2016 before leaving the label in 2018. He also parted ways with Tinny Entertainment in 2019.
