Fally Ipupa Details

Fally Ipupa N'simba (born 14 December 1977), known professionally as Fally Ipupa, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, dancer, philanthropist, guitarist, and producer. Often referred to as the "Prince of Rumba", he is noted for his tenor vocals as well as his blend of contemporary and traditional Congolese music genres, including Congolese rumba, soukous, and ndombolo. His lyrics often cover themes of romance, suffering, and joy.

Ipupa made his public musical debut in 1997, at the age of 20, with the Kinshasa-based band Talent Latent. In 1999, he joined Koffi Olomide's Quartier Latin International. In 2006, Ipupa signed a record deal with Obouo Productions for his debut solo studio album, Droit Chemin, which attained a gold record after selling over 100,000 copies within one month. In 2007, he won the Césaire de la Musique prize for Best Male Performer. The same year, he became the first Congolese artist to sell out the Olympia Hall in Paris. In April 2008, Ipupa won the Kundé d'Or for Best Central African Artist. Ipupa's second studio album, Arsenal de Belles Melodies, included chart-toppers like "Chaise Électrique" (featuring Olivia) and "Sexy Dance", which became some of his signature songs. The album quickly sold over 100,000 copies. Ipupa subsequently won two consecutive 2010 MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Francophone Artist and Best Video, with "Sexy Dance".

His third studio album, Power "Kosa Leka", which spawned his breakout singles "La vie est belle", "Ndoki", and "Service", sold over 30,000 copies in a month. In 2013, Ipupa won the Trace Urban Music Award for Best African Artist and was signed to the French record label AZ by Julien Creuzard. Following Creuzard's departure from AZ to establish Elektra France in May 2016, Ipupa maintained his affiliation with the label. His fourth studio album, Tokooos, yielded his highest commercial success and was certified gold and platinum by SNEP, making him one of the first Kinshasa-based Congolese solo artists that honor. Tokooos also peaked at number five on the French iTunes chart. His fifth studio album, Control, released in November 2018, debuted at No. 10 on the French iTunes chart, while the single "Canne à sucre" became the first Congolese song by a Kinshasa-based artist to enter SNEP's top 200 most downloaded singles in France, reaching No. 91. Ipupa released his sixth studio album, Tokooos II, in December 2020. On 25 February 2022, he issued Tokooos II Gold. On 17 October 2022, he published his seventh studio album Formule 7, which amassed over three million streams on Spotify within 24 hours and dominated French iTunes sales. Within two years, Formule 7 was certified gold by the Centre National de la Musique for selling over 50,000 copies outside France, and also received gold certification from SNEP.

In 2014, Forbes ranked Ipupa as the sixth richest African musician, and Jeune Afrique named him one of the fifty most influential African artists in 2018. He is the most-streamed French-speaking artist on Boomplay and the most-followed Congolese artist on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Ipupa is also known for his humanitarian work: he is the founder of the Fally Ipupa Foundation, which provides aid to marginalized groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including victims of sexual violence and disease, as well as orphans.