Nigerian rapper YCee has used a recent appearance on the Afropolitan podcast to speak on years of industry exploitation, a mental health diagnosis, and what he describes as a dangerous cultural shift in Nigeria's attitude toward education and intelligence. 

During his time at Tinny Entertainment, YCee was blunt; not a single dime from over 100 million streams ever reached the artists responsible for the music. 

The rapper said a 70/30 revenue split in the label's favour, stacked on top of recoupment deductions on promotion, meant he left with nothing. He said he was stunned to learn the promotional spend on a single song could run between ₦100 million and ₦200 million, all charged against his earnings before any payment was calculated. 

YCee formally announced his exit from Tinny Entertainment in January 2019 and simultaneously launched his own imprint, ANBT: Ain't Nobody Badder Than. 

 In 2020, during the lockdown, YCee was diagnosed with a mental health condition. He spent six months in London, in and out of hospital for about three months, before returning to Nigeria to continue treatment, a process he described as a very long six years of medication, hospitalisations, and ongoing therapy. He says he is now stable and in a much better place. 

But the conversation took a wider turn when YCee addressed what he sees as a cultural rot taking hold in Nigeria. 

"Nigerian society is no longer celebrating academic excellence. It's not even Yahoo culture anymore; now we have a 'Peller culture,'" he said, referring to the rise of social media personalities who have turned ignorance into entertainment currency. 

"This 'Olodo' uprising we are witnessing is terrible. It feels like we are trying so hard to accommodate ignorance so people won't feel bad, and now they seem to be the majority." 

The rapper went further, saying:

 "The massive attack on Nigeria's educational system is alarming, aside from kidnappings and Boko Haram attacks," he said. 

YCee has since returned to music, releasing Out of Sight – Out of Mind: Volume 1 on June 12, 2026, a 14-track project through The ANBT Company and ONErpm, featuring PsychoYP, Dremo, and Damilaremusic.