Renowned rapper Ladipoe explores new artistic ground through music and an upcoming christmas film

In the pursuit of complete creative development, fortune can cast us into opportunities never considered, but highly gratifying. Through a series of opportunities, and in keeping with his determined artistic re-introspection, rapper Ladipoe finds himself headlining a brand-new film in collaboration with Amazon, all of which concludes an already successful musical year 2024. We sat down with him and talked about this new career path.

This news was welcomed with a great deal of enthusiasm and an excitement about the outcome. Indeed, the announcement of the movie “Christmas In Lagos” release brought a massive amount of interest, with one of the lead roles cast to Nigerian star Ladipoe, who shared with us how the opportunity was brought to him : “The director Jadesola Osiberu is one of the new leader of the cinema wave out of Nigeria. She has done some really good film and she was interested in casting me for one of her movie. They have reached out to me even though I never express my wish of acting in any way. In fact, I was nervous about it. At first, I declined because I didn’t think that it would fit my profile. Then I sat down with my team, and they convinced me otherwise, seeing a great opportunity in it. I grab the confidence from my inner circle, and it helped me doing it. So, in the end I accepted the part, and I also really liked the story, which is Christmas in Lagos.”

This romantic Christmas comedy, directed by Jadesola Osiberu, is set in Lagos during the end-of-year festivities, a time when Lagos is particularly animated and passionate. The symbolic effect is therefore very compelling and has seduced the Nigerian rapper: “This is a good film to act for the first time and I wanted to explore my creativity. It was a really good experience, and I was honored to work with Jade and Amazon on this one. This was the first time in a long time that I’ve done something I’m unfamiliar with in front of people. This reminded me what it is to be a creative. You must step out your comfort zone and prove to yourself that you can do anything. I have huge respect for the work that every name written in the credits have put on to build a proper film. This experience gave me a real confidence boost.”

This enriching experience is part of the artist’s path as he pursues his reconnection with his artistic roots: “It felt like a year of reconnection, like a revival. I managed to reconnect to some aspects that describe me, but I lost touch with. I often say that I feel like an independent artist in a record label, and I wanted to get back to this independent mindset, the determination of doing things by any means. Now, I’m being intentional about displaying my personality in all its aspects to my fans. Everybody knows me as Ladipoe, prior that everybody used to call me Poe. For some legal reasons, I had to give up the name Poe, so I came with my full name Ladipoe instead. But Poe was my very first artist name, so this year it felts like Ladipoe connected with Poe, that’s what made this 2024 journey even more significant. Now, I feel like I’ve plenty connected back with that angry style of me that really embodied by Poe.”

This honest statement from one of Nigeria’s top pen games attests to his high state of maturity and, from a larger point of view, his ability to look back on the trajectory he wants his career to embrace and the ingredients he needs to achieve his goals. More so coming from a successful artist, best known for his hit “Feeling” featuring Bnxn, or more recently with Taves, a close friend of the latter, on the track “Compose”: “I love Compose. Linking with Taves was great because that’s somebody on the come up, one of the rising stars in Nigeria who has a great voice and a great pen game. I’m happy for him to have that moment.”

Ladipoe enjoys collaborating with different types of profiles and, like Taves, with emerging artists who have had a different start to their careers, but who have the same level of expectation given the amount of talent they possess:” When I first joined Mavins in 2017, I did not think that’ll fit what Mavins stood for at the time. We all know Mavins and what Don Jazzy represents. They were shaping the Nigerian pop sound, and I did not think that I made popular music but more niche and alternative. I felt skepticism that I was making rap music with English lyrics, that it wouldn’t fit in with the Nigerian tapestry. But I do know that I have taste that could appeal to a lot of people.” In Nigeria, a land with tremendous prospects for artistic development, the move towards rap was a natural one for Ladipoe:” I like stories in general. Growing up, I liked reading stories, comics, words, movies, drawings etc… basically absorbing things from another place. Then I’ve met some friends in school that used to rap and kind of introduced me to it. From there, I’ve started to write, and it never stopped till this day. I listen to rap song but also bedroom pop different type of music. There’s this group called “Little Brothers” from North Carolina that I listen a lot. There’s also Drake, Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott but also Nigerian rapper such as SDC, Little C.”

Relying on his innate passion for storytelling, narrative and the skilful use of words, Ladipoe has established himself as one of Nigeria’s finest rappers with a very personal style:” I often use this phrase when I talk about my music: “no punchlines, just lifelines” and this means a lot to me. Rap artists are known for their punchlines, but lifelines are deeper. The objective won’t be so much to impress the audience with striking punchlines, but more to reach people’s souls and communicate phrases that they can relate to and that bring them to awareness from the very first listen. I want my music to leave a mark. I’ve come a long way but embracing your growth is important for your growth.”

The wisdom provided by the words of an artist of Ladipoe’s stature are even more vital these days, highlighting the democratization of African music worldwide. It’s a sentiment the Lagos-raised artist can’t help but feel optimistic about: “I’m proud of what our sound is becoming. We all know where it was before, it has grown significantly and change lives of so many artists. I feel that afrobeats has been one of the most positive PR stories of this Nigeria. It’s important to realized that because we used to be known for negative things in the past, but now we’re known for something amazing so I’m very proud of how far it has gone but I also think there’s so much to go. We do need to continue to tell our stories, so the culture doesn’t get lost. People also need to recognize that it’s not the only genre that exist in Africa. Afrobeats is one of the first carriages of a train, so arriving at the station the first one. Thankfully, it’s doing so much to shine the light but there is more coming, there is more carriages arriving at the station like the rap side of Africa, r&b and all the other side of African music are coming. Afrobeats is helping open the door. People should embrace this new era and it’s a pleasure to witness the attention African artists are getting. It’s about time that Africa is the forefront of music because we are so musical. And with the rise of African music, I also want to see the rise of African journalist, African producers, basically African stakeholders so that the stories can stay authentic. Artists putting the work need to be empowered. We must keep the ecosystem alive.”

Considering this enthusiastic statement, Ladipoe promises an exciting year in 2025: “I’m really excited about 2025. It is going to be the year of my second album, it’s time to share music aggressively and show people the level that I’m on. I want to present a project that represents me 100%, that is the minimum my core fan base and community deserve. The art that you put out, as an artist, must represent you. Following the project, one of the biggest things on my mind is to go from place to place and perform it on stage. I want to take my music on the road.”

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