Right now, Shallipopi is exactly where he feels most alive: Paris. In the middle of Paris Fashion Week, the Nigerian hitmaker moves through the city with the same curiosity and confidence that define his music. Paris, and France more broadly, hold a special place in his heart, for the lifestyle, the culture, and the way music and fashion effortlessly collide here.
Over the past year, Shallipopi has crossed a major milestone, surpassing 440 million global streams. But for him, numbers are only part of the story. What truly matters is connection. Seeing his sound resonate in France, far from where it was born, has reshaped the way he thinks about his audience. “It shows me that music really has no borders,” he says. “Different cultures, different languages, but the same energy.” That global reach has made him even more intentional about creating moments people can feel, wherever they’re from.
When fans leave a Shallipopi show or finish listening to his latest album AURACLE, the emotion he hopes lingers is freedom. Freedom to move, to feel confident, to escape. His performances are designed as shared experiences, places where joy, rhythm, and individuality meet. “I want people to feel elevated,” he explains. “Like they were part of something bigger than just a song.”
That expansive feeling is deeply embedded in AURACLE, an album that flows between Afrobeats, global rhythms, and almost cosmic energy. The genre-blurring wasn’t accidental. From the beginning, Shallipopi wanted the project to feel limitless, inspired by travel, new sounds, and the idea that music should never be boxed in. Exploring unfamiliar textures and pushing his vocal presence further than before were real risks, but risks he felt ready to take. Growth, for him, lives on the other side of comfort.
Fashion plays a similar role in his creative life. Known for bold silhouettes and unexpected combinations, Shallipopi admits the biggest fashion risk he’s taken is simply being himself, even when it feels ahead of the curve. Growing up, he drew inspiration from icons like Virgil Abloh and Pharrell Williams, figures who proved that style can be both personal and powerful. That influence is clear in the way he treats fashion as an extension of his sound.
For Shallipopi, music and style speak the same language. On stage, his look amplifies the energy: louder, sharper, more expressive. In the studio, it becomes more intimate and relaxed, leaving space for experimentation. Each environment feeds the other, creating a full-circle creative process. He’s also deeply inspired by different eras and subcultures, pulling references from streetwear, luxury fashion, and global youth movements he encounters while traveling.
Paris Fashion Week, in particular, feels like a creative playground. Being surrounded by designers and brands pushes him to imagine how fashion might shape his next musical chapter. What attracts him to a brand isn’t just aesthetics, but vision, storytelling, culture, and a willingness to take risks. That’s why he can easily see himself collaborating more deeply with fashion houses, going beyond front-row moments into true creative partnerships. Beyond fashion and sound, Shallipopi’s artistry is grounded in musicianship. Few know that he also plays the piano, a skill that quietly informs his songwriting and sense of melody. His collaborations with artists like Rema and Burna Boy reflect his openness to exchange, blending perspectives while maintaining his distinct voice.
Looking ahead, Shallipopi is focused on evolution. More travel, deeper cultural exchanges, bigger stages, and new creative risks are all on the horizon. Most importantly, he’s excited to keep meeting his audience around the world, people of all backgrounds, united by sound, style, and shared energy. In Paris or anywhere else, his impact continues to grow.
Shallipopi wears pieces from 3.Paradis. Photos by Marc Medina for Fucking Young!
