Nigerian rapper YCee has revealed that he has never received royalties from his music despite amassing more than 100 million streams, attributing the situation to the terms of his former recording contract.
Speaking on the ‘Afropolitan Podcast’, the rapper said he was signed to Tinny Entertainment under a 70/30 revenue-sharing agreement but never received royalty payments because the label maintained it had not recovered its investment in his career.
“The mega hits and 100s of millions of streams that I have had, I didn’t get any money off them,” YCee said, explaining that his former label claimed it had yet to recoup the money spent on him.
The rapper recalled that while his career appeared successful from the outside with hit songs, endorsement deals and international trips, his financial reality was very different.
“At that time, the songs were going crazy, endorsements, and I was travelling the world, and it was looking good from the outside looking in, but it wasn’t making sense to me in other areas,” he said.
YCee rose to fame in 2015 with his breakout hit ‘Jagaban’, followed by successful singles including ‘Omo Alhaji’ and ‘Juice’ featuring Maleek Berry.
After leaving Tinny Entertainment, he continued releasing music before taking a break from the spotlight. He has since returned with his new album, ‘Out of Sight – Out of Mind – Volume 1’, a 14-track project marking his comeback.
