1. Fally Ipupa subsequently won two consecutive 2010 MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Francophone Artist and Best Video for "Sexy Dance".
49 Facts About Fally Ipupa
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In 2013, Fally Ipupa won the Trace Urban Music Award for Best African Artist and was signed to the French record label AZ by Julien Creuzard.
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Fally Ipupa is the most-streamed French-speaking artist on Boomplay and the most-followed Congolese artist on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Fally Ipupa was born Fally Ipupa N'simba to Mongo parents on 14 December 1977, in Kinshasa, Zaire, to Monique Bolutuli Mbo and Faustin Ebombo Ipupa.
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Fally Ipupa grew up in the Bandalungwa commune, surrounded by nightclubs, bars, and the headquarters of Wenge Musica, which ignited his interest in music.
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Fally Ipupa was particularly drawn to drums and sang in a Catholic church with his mother.
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Fally Ipupa recounted to Le Point: "I played congas, tried a bit of guitar, my sister dabbled in gospel, my late mother sang in church, my father liked to listen to music".
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Fally Ipupa later performed music in the streets with improvised instruments, along with his friends Atele Kunianga, Pitshou Luzolo, and Sankara de Kunta.
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Fally Ipupa collaborated with various orchestras and groups, such as Flash Succes, Fraternite Musica, New City de la Bogania, and Kibinda Nkoy, ultimately contributing to the formation of Nouvelle Alliance.
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Fally Ipupa gained a reputation as a singer, dancer, and atalaku, and his proficiency developed as he gained experience with conventional instruments.
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In 1997, Fally Ipupa joined Talent Latent, a music band formed by Mosain Malanda and Faustin Djata.
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Fally Ipupa became the director, which allowed him to bring in new musicians.
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Fally Ipupa included his composition "Eternellement" to Quartier Latin International's fifth studio album, Force de Frappe.
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Fally Ipupa collaborated with Koffi Olomide on his 2001 album, Effrakata, including on the track "Effervescent".
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Fally Ipupa is a professional musician artist, very serious in his work.
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Fally Ipupa left Quartier Latin International in 2006, but in 2016, he took part in a project commemorating the band's 30th anniversary.
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On 7 April 2007, Fally Ipupa sold out the Olympia Hall in Paris, becoming the first Congolese solo artist to do so since Tabu Ley Rochereau in 1970, Abeti Masikini in 1973, and Koffi Olomide in 1998.
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Fally Ipupa was joined onstage by artists like Krys, Benji, and Lokua Kanza.
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Fally Ipupa began working on his second studio album, Arsenal de Belles Melodies, in early 2008.
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That same year, Fally Ipupa won the Trophees des Arts Afro-Caribeens as well as a gold record.
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Fally Ipupa went on to perform at the Zenith de Paris on 2 January 2010.
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Fally Ipupa subsequently performed in Belgium, Switzerland, and the US.
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Fally Ipupa was slated to perform again at the Zenith de Paris on 1 January 2011, but the concert was postponed to 12 March 2011, due to challenges in obtaining a travel visa.
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In 2006, Fally Ipupa formed a backing band, called F'Victeam, which functioned as his own record label.
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On 5 May 2014, Fally Ipupa released the ndombolo-infused single "Original" on Facebook and YouTube to promote F'Victeam.
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Fally Ipupa then toured Washington as part of a US-Africa Summit, to which President Barack Obama had invited 47 African leaders, in August 2014.
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On 18 April 2015, Fally Ipupa was invited to Washington by the World Bank to participate in Global Citizen Earth Day and delivered a concert on the National Mall in front of 250,000 people.
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Fally Ipupa was honored with the Special Prize for African Integration by the Ministry of African Integration and Ivorians Abroad.
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Fally Ipupa later returned to Dallas to participate in the AFRIMMA ceremony, where he was nominated for Best Central Africa Artist and Best African Artist.
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On 16 June, Fally Ipupa released "Bad Boy", featuring Aya Nakamura, a track that contains a sample of a guitar riff played by Simaro Lutumba in his 1983 song "Faute ya Commercant".
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Fally Ipupa capped off 2017 by winning the title of "Best International Artist of the Year" in the Skyrock 2017 awards.
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Fally Ipupa presented the record on the program Journal Afrique on TV5Monde a week after its release and announced a concert in Kinshasa on 30 November 2018.
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On 28 February 2020, Fally Ipupa performed at the Accor Arena in Paris in front of 20,000 people.
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Fally Ipupa later promoted the album with a concert at the Accor Arena in Paris on 28 February 2020.
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The Congolese rumba-tinged single "Amore", in which Fally Ipupa conveys his sorrow and yearning for the return of a departed lover, achieved gold certification from SNEP and exceeded one million Spotify streams in four months.
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On 26 December 2020, Fally Ipupa sold out the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire in Ivory Coast and received the Best African Artist of the Year prize at the fourth edition of the African Talents Awards.
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On 17 October 2022, during an interview with the French television channel France 24, Fally Ipupa announced the release of his seventh studio album, Formule 7.
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Fally Ipupa told RFI, "With Formule 7, I return to the source, to the basic structure of rumba, while bringing my personal touch with chords and arrangements".
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On 5 January 2023, Fally Ipupa appeared at the Sofitel Abidjan Hotel Ivoire to promote the record.
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On 27 May, Fally Ipupa sold out Stade Alphonse Massemba-Debat in the Republic of the Congo and subsequently performed at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Jeux de la Francophonie in Kinshasa, on 28 July.
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On 25 November 2023, Fally Ipupa sold out Paris La Defense Arena, becoming the first African solo artist to do so.
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Fally Ipupa brought a lineup of musicians to the stage, including Aya Nakamura, SDM, Mokobe, KeBlack, Naza, Dadju, Tayc, Singuila, Youssou N'Dour, RJ Kanierra, and Petit Fally.
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Fally Ipupa was later awarded a gold plaque for selling 40,000 tickets to the show.
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On 8 December, Fally Ipupa performed at Wembley Arena in London, in front of 12,500 people, becoming the first Congolese artist to achieve this feat since Abeti Masikini, in 1986.
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Fally Ipupa then performed at the LDLC Arena in Lyon on 6 July 2024, followed by a sold-out concert at Arkea Arena in Floirac, France.
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Fally Ipupa concluded the summit with a private concert at the La Gaite Lyrique hall in Paris, becoming the first Congolese musician to perform at the venue.
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On 1 March 2022, Fally Ipupa announced a concert at Stade des Martyrs de la Pentecote in Kinshasa, scheduled for 29 October.
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In 2017, Fally Ipupa partnered with UNICEF to fight malnutrition, which affects ten million children across the Democratic Republic of the Congo annually.
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On 24 April 2024, Fally Ipupa partook in a charity football match presided over by French First Lady Brigitte Macron, aimed at raising funds for hospitalized children and teenagers through her foundation, Operation Pieces jaunes.