Ycee Talks About His Six-Year Battle with Mental Health

Nigerian rapper and singer Ycee has shared that he has been dealing with bipolar disorder since 2020. He opened up about how this condition impacted his mental health, creativity, and music career.

The 33-year-old artist spoke during an episode of the Afropolitan Podcast. He mentioned that he got the diagnosis during the COVID-19 lockdown while living in London. This marked the start of what he called a tough six-year journey.

Ycee, whose real name is Oludemilade Martin Alejo, said he did not know much about mental health issues when he received his diagnosis. He had to manage treatment and recovery far 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 shared.

He explained that he eventually had to leave the UK due to visa issues and returned to Lagos to continue his 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.

Ycee described the period as filled with medication, therapy, and repeated hospital stays as he worked to manage his 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.

He also mentioned that the illness greatly affected his creativity and led to his long break from music. Reflecting on this time, he said his last project, "Love Drunk," released in 2021, did not get the promo it deserved because of how he was feeling.

"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 stated.

Ycee talked about the struggle of adjusting to life after his diagnosis. He spent years trying to reconnect with the person he was before the condition changed everything.

"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.

He mentioned that the hardest part of his experience was how it affected his ability to create music, something he had always found easy.

"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 explained.

When asked about the condition he has been fighting, he replied simply, "Bipolar disorder."

Ycee became popular after his hit single "Condo" featuring Patoranking. This song earned him two nominations at the 2015 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. He went on to release other hits like "Jagaban" and "Omo Alhaji," earning nominations at major award shows like the All Africa Music Awards and The Headies.

He signed with Sony Music in 2016 but left the label in 2018 after a rough period. He also parted ways with Tinny Entertainment in 2019.