If the expectation for Benin City breakout Shallipopi was that he’d continue serving up the bubbly anthems that comprised the majority of his first two albums, Auracle is a quirky recalibration of that notion. Two years after “Elon Musk” broke him into the Nigerian mainstream with off-kilter flows and obscure rhythms, Shalli-fucking-Popi is ambitiously melding the sonics of his irreverent Plutomania sound with the kind of breezy instrumentation that has become the standard of Afropop. Following up on the global success of March 2025’s “Laho” and its remixes, Auracle is an expansive effort that sees Shallipopi come to terms with his position as the front-runner of an insouciant sound that has blown Afropop wide open since 2024’s Shakespopi. “Ask of me in the street, I’m a rockstar,” he sings on the Ruger-assisted “Rockstar”. That sense of self-awareness also informs the supremely confident “HIM”, where, with some help from American rapper Gunna, he declares that he was divinely selected to be a success. Where his two preceding albums, 2023’s Presido La Pluto and Shakespopi, were built around a gritty hip-hop framework and groovy native samples, Auracle pulls influences from soul, R&B and amapiano to centre Shallipopi’s messaging. There’s a dedication to the rungs of the ladder he’s ascended on “Igho”, but Shallipopi is still about soundtracking a good time. He’s having the time of his life on “Like That (bomboclatt)” with Wizkid and detailing his financial liquidity on “Ballingo”.