Lanipekun was born in London, during the 1981 Brixton riot. His father is Nigerian and his mother is of half Italian and half English descent. When he was four, his parents separated and he moved from Brixton to Finsbury Park. An only child, he was raised in North London by his single mother, a secondary school music teacher. He attended Crowland Junior School, St Aidan's Primary School and then Rokesly Junior School, before attaining a financial scholarship to Christ's Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex. He then attended Westminster College. Lanipekun has A-Levels in English, Psychology, History, Drama and Religious Studies. He then obtained a Grant to study for a BSc in Anthropology at University College London. After University, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as a Grant Student. He was assisted financially by many Arts Charities and Foundations, including The Actors' Charitable Trust. Lanipekun has a younger brother and sister who live with his father and stepmother in South London.