Nigerian rapper and singer, Shallipopi, has revealed why he switched from rap music to singing.

Featuring in a recent episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the ‘Cast’ hitmaker explained that he was originally a rap star but embraced Amapiano for financial reasons.

According to him, Amapiano is more lucrative than rap music.

“I have been rapping for a while. I am a trap star. They made me do Amapiano. It is Amapiano that bring food to the table, so we will do it. I will drag it with them,” he said.

Shallipopi said rap was his “first love” but he struggled to make a fortune from it partly due to Nigerian music fans’ orientation and lack of support.

On why he rejected the Headies award for Best Rap Song, which was won by his song ‘Cast’ last year, Shallipopi said he rejected it because the organisers attempted to box him as just a rapper.

He insisted that they should have given awards in both singing and rapping categories.