DENCIA: The lady I thought was my sister was actually my mum

Reprudencia Sunke otherwise known as Dencia has called off her three-year career lull with a new musical video entitled, African Energy. The eccentric songstress and entrepreneur shed light on several misconceptions about her in this interview with our correpondent


You are back home from the US where you have been a red carpet item. Why did you return home?

You guys (journalists) have been amazing people and I’ve seen stuffs you’d all written about me. Most times, I felt like, “oh, my God! That’s not true.” Now, I’m home to interact with the media, the journalists should know me; get to even familiarise with the lady they write those stuffs about.

But writing those stuffs is okay, I can’t knock that off. I hope that when we finally start interacting, you can have access to me because I’m never going to stop anyone from writing things about me, but I will hope that before they write those stories, they can reach out to me and I’d confirm if it’s true or not. I want to be part of the solution and not the problem. I want to be the reason some guys will become more professional in plying their trade. There was something that happened that got me so angry that I broke two expensive phones.

I broke even the door of my house. Some blogs actually posted the picture of my current home and I never sent those photos. And what they posted was a photograph of when someone actually lived there years ago. When it surfaced on the internet, I was extremely upset because it brought me back to a place where I felt that I wasn’t even safe anymore. It was like my home was on the internet.

But you were home in 2011, does your fear has anything to do with an incident that happened then?

Yes, I returned to promote my first single entitled, BerryBerry. I went back to Los Angeles and my home was robbed. I lost every single thing I’d worked hard for; it was like someone stole my whole house. So, I had to start life afresh, so having the photo of my apartment on the internet made me really feel I’m no longer safe. I live alone and got my home on the internet, imagine how anyone else would feel about that. We’ve got to respect people’s privacy. I’m a single female living in my Los Angeles home and anything can happen.

There’d been cases of people who stalked people. I recently got stalked from Hollywood all the way to my house and that also made me unsafe.

You recently said that these past three years had been quite tough, what exactly were the challenges you dealt with?

Well, I’m not going to go into a lot of details but I honestly had personal things I was dealing with. I went through depression and it was really hard. I’m just glad today that I was able to get out of it and have life back. It was mostly feminist stuffs. Most people don’t know my story for instance.

I was raised by my grandparents and I thought that my grandmother was my mother and that my mother was my sister until I was like 16. That story really never affected me until I became an adult. I cry every time I have to tell that story. It really made me frustrated but I’m fine right now. I’m in a better place.

You also reportedly said that you are through with business. Does that imply you are going to face music squarely?

I have not left business. I took a year off to build what I call an empire. Right now, my business can run on its own without my presence. For like eight months I had to wake up every morning from 6am to midnight to run the business. It’s really hard for a female, especially being Black if you live in a racist area. But all of that is over now. I just let my business handle itself and I’m full time back to music.

Now that you are in the country to release a musical video after the break, is anything going to change in your music style?

Technically, I’ve been working with Nicholas Cooper, doing voice training and that has been amazing. That is preparing me enough to be a better artist. I’m in a point where I can confidently say that I’m a better artist. I am not going to box myself into one corner and say that my music has changed. But the video I’ve done and which I’m releasing is different from what I’ve ever thought that I’d do. I can only say that I’ve grown and I’ve a lot to offer this time.

How are you dealing with loneliness and the fact that there is no man in your life yet?

I actually talk to guys here and there; it’s just that it never goes anywhere. When time comes, I’m definitely going to be with someone and take time off for that too because I take time off for everything, just as I did with music.

What is your nationality?

I’m actually half Nigerian, half Camerounian. I didn’t find that out until some years ago when I found out that my mother was actually the one I’d always known as my sister.

Most times when you hit the red carpet, people think you are Nicki Minaj. Do you consider that good or bad for your brand?

I do not think that affects my brand. If I were Nicki Minaj, I would be upset that I have made the name so big and the media are beginning to mistake me for somebody else. I’m way taller than Nicki Minaj, we’re really not the same and they know that. They just want some drama and I’m not going to give that to them.

Another person once called you Nicki Minaj fashion regression and you got very angry. Why did you get that upset?

I wasn’t upset at all and there was a reason for that post. I’m a very calculated person.

You opened a fashion store when you were 15. What influenced your fashion sense?

I’m a very creative person and I’d already begun that when I was age eight. I tore up things and tried to put them together. I was into needling and the rest of it. I just saw that growing up, I was very different and I was raised by a grandmother who would let me do what I wanted to do and wore what I wanted to wear as long as I didn’t bring boys around. And when I opened my store, I was just 15 and that was when someone challenged me and I rose up to it. Fashion wise I’m inspired by things around me.

I had an older sister who is actually my idol, and she was married at a time to a soccer player. She was great. I admired the way she used to dress and I’d always said when I grow up, I want to be just like her. She inspired me a lot.

You mentioned earlier that you lived in a racist community. Does that explain your change in complexion?

Now, I do live in a racist community but I wasn’t living there before. So, when I moved to LA, I started working my way up. My skin tone has been changing for a while now. I live in a racist environment but they’re not racist because of their skin tone; they’re just not raised around Black people.

Your name is Reprudencia Sunke and sounds really unfamiliar. Which part of Nigeria are you from?

I’m from Calabar. Sunke is my grandfather’s name. He’s late and was half-Nigerian. My grandmother is called Prudencia and since I was the first grandchild, I was the real production of Prudencia’s reproduction (pun intended).