YCEE truly 'OMO ALHAJI'

Congratulation on your award as the Rookie of the year at the Headies award, how does make you feel?
For me, it was really great winning the award. First, I never expected it but as God wanted it, I won the award. In all fairness, even if I did not win the award, but the fact that I was recognised to the point where I got nominated is as good as I won the award already. I am super excited winning the award because that is my first award as a musician.

 For the fact that you had other talented contenders in the category, what do you feel made you stand out to the point of winning?

I don’t think I have a special quality per say because in all fairness my other contenders in the category are very talented acts but as a human being, in everything you do, you want to put yourself first. For instance, even if Nigeria wants to play with Brazil, everyone will watch the match and hope Nigeria will win. I saw myself as a winner and that didn’t take anything from any other person in the category because every other artiste in that category had one or two hit songs to their credit but as God wanted it, I won.

Let’s talk about your buzzing single ‘Jagaban’?
What I was trying to achieve with that single was that I just wanted to put out a song that will make people identify I was Nigerian because the single I put out before that one, a lot of people said it sounded too foreign, most people didn’t even want to believe am a Nigerian. I just wanted to do something that was a bit more Nigerian, a bit more local and the rest they say is history. From the first day it dropped, everybody loved it up till this moment and it keeps going every day, it is one of a kind.

Why the choice of YBNL Olamide on the remix?
Olamide was one of the first Nigerian rappers to explore that sound. As soon as that song came out, everybody that listened to it was like I needed to get Olamide or Pyhno on the remix. Olamide listened and he liked it. He went on twitter and tweeted that if I was hoping to do a remix, he is down. I was like this is what everybody has been saying, so let us do it and we did it. He tweeted on the weekend and the next week, I was at his place recording.

What is Ycee currently working on?
I just dropped another single titled ‘Omo Alhaji’ and ever since dropped it, people keep asking I am truly an Omo Alhaji.

So are you truly an Omo Alhaji?
Of course, my late father was a Muslim, a practicing one to core while my mother is a Christian whom I lived and grew up with, so that brought about the name that I am the only Omo Alhaji you can find in church every Sunday. A lot of people actually confuse the theme to be the name of the song. They think the name of the song was who your daddy is but it is me playing around.

Can Ycee still do a song that will surpass the Jagaban anthem?
Definitely because I have learnt that the only way to make a hit record is just to keep on recording because you never know when you will be in spirit to make another hit record. I’m just starting, so Jagaban is definitely not going to be where I’m going to stop. I’m still going to pull out more songs, massive songs. Jagaban is being heard nationally and I’m hoping on bringing out more songs that will go more internationally and globally. I don’t think Jagaban is going to be the end.


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