YCEE returns with a blend of hip-hop and R&B that signals his evolution through an extended hiatus. During his time away from the spotlight, Afrobeats lovers largely concluded he had fallen off, a sentiment he addresses head on in his WYFL Riddim video, where he raps, “Made it to the top, they say I fell off a bit, I dust myself off and I get on with it.” He is not oblivious to what his absence cost him.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind ,stylized as OOSOOM opens with an intro from a well-wisher who goes by the moniker Business. The intro flows seamlessly into the same musical sequence on the next track, “Leave Me Alone,” where YCEE addresses mental health struggles and his discord with neighborhood underground rappers he likens to residents of the Nigerian equivalent of Section 8 housing. It is a tension rooted in place. He grew up in the block of flats section of Festac Town, Nigeria, where he first started rapping and caught the attention of his former record label executive, nicknamed Tinny.
The album does not feature the heavy juggernauts of the Nigerian music industry, a direct consequence of operating independently. YCEE left his former record label before releasing a debut album, which limited promotion for his earlier projects and continues to affect the rollout for OOSOOM. On the Afropolitan podcast, he discussed the nearly prohibitive cost of independent music promotion in Nigeria, revealing he was billed 200 million naira simply to properly promote the project. The absence of A-list features is felt most when measured against his star-studded debut, but the circumstances behind that absence are more complex than they appear.
The album’s second half reveals a softer, more vulnerable side. YCEE addresses heartbreak, infidelity, promiscuity and what sounds less like a plea to music lovers and more like a plea to a former lover. On “Lemonade,” which is arguably the project’s fan favorite, the wordplay reaches its peak. The line “Baby yeah you get the idea, f**k up on the table, we gon’ need some Ikea” captures his ability to strike a romantic note while landing a punchline , what can only be described as lyrical porn.
The mixing on the project sits slightly above mediocre. On “Lemonade” specifically, the vocals sit too high relative to the instrumentation, creating an imbalance that disrupts the rhythm and competes with the guitar sequencing. It is the album’s most noticeable technical flaw.
After listening through and cross-referencing the Spotify analytics, OOSOOM presents a new version of YCEE ,a rapper and songwriter working to be understood on his own terms after years out of the public eye. The flaws are real but minor. The project is not a waste of 37 minutes.
