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This is how Shallipopi came up with his unique stage name
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The singer shares the interesting story of how his stage name was crafted
Nigerian artist Crown Uzama, better known as Shallipopi, recently unveiled the origin of his stage name, attributing it to the influence of an old Taiwanese film titled “Shaolin Popei.” Speaking on the Cocktails and Takeaways podcast, the “Cast” crooner recounted the process of crafting his stage identity, which involved exploring different monikers, including his birth name.
He said, “I was looking for name. I needed a name and I checked this one and checked that one, it didn’t work. I even tried my own name. But if I tell people my government name, they won’t feel it like that. My name is Crown, so I needed another name. I used to go by Drip Face, and I used to change my names anyhow, so I had many names.”
Did You Know?
The stage name Shallipopi was derived from the 1994 Taiwanese kung fu comedy film, Shaolin Popey? pic.twitter.com/ymVOH3P559
— ๐ฌ @๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐ (@OneJoblessBoy) February 8, 2024
The singer went on to recount the childhood incident that led to him adopting the name. He elaborated, “As kids, we had this DVD that our parents purchased for us. Sometimes, these DVDs would have different movies inside than what was advertised on the cover. One particular DVD my mother bought turned out to be a cartoon, but when we played it, it was a different film called Shaolin Popey. It was an old Korean or Karate, Kung Fu movie.”
The film, released in 1994, left a lasting impression on young Crown. He recalled, “At that time, I was in search of a stage name, so I looked up the movie on Google, and it struck a chord with me. Hence, I decided to incorporate the first letters of S.H.A and L.I, along with POPI. And that’s how the name came about, that’s the real story.”