The billionaire’s daughter on the wheels-of-steel, Ifeoluwa Florence Otedola, known by her showbiz moniker, DJ Cuppy, is invading Africa. The 22-year-old disc jockey studied Business and Economics from Kings College London on the prompting of her dad, Femi Otedola. And upon graduation, she handed him the certificate in what seemed like, ‘thank you dad, may I now do my own thing?’ And since then, she has forged a phenomenal story. DJ Cuppy shares with DGossip247.
About the African tour
A lot of hard work has gone into the planning of this tour and there’s going to be more hard work when we get on ground. So, I think we’ll grow as a brand from the exposure and experience all around Africa.
I’ll learn more and become more grounded and my music will be a reflection of my experience from the tour. I’ve always loved to take up new challenges, doing the impossible and I draw inspiration from being unique, I wanted to do something that’s not been done before, something ambitious and that’s how we came up with the idea of this tour. I’m hoping to come back bigger and better.
My role model
This is a very difficult question to answer because I’m like a sponge; I always draw inspiration from everyone around me. It’s almost impossible to pick one person. I have amazingly inspirational parents always pushing me to be great and in my team I have amazing people.
Where my brand stands
I think the Cuppy brand has come a long way. And as an individual, in-between finishing my degrees and growing as a person, it’s a very challenging environment to be in, and I’m personally very happy because I know how much potential the Cuppy brand has, not only for Nigeria, but for young African women around the world. So, when I look at my career plan, there’s a long way ahead and I have to say I work very hard, I take my job very seriously and it can only get better going forward.
If I wasn’t a DJ
If I wasn’t a DJ, honestly I’ll probably be an oil trader. I was working closely with my dad and we had lots of plans. My dad today is still one of my biggest supporters, but it’s also important not to put all your eggs in one basket, which is why I’m still in school.
Standing unaided
Everyone has different platforms, some are big, some are small and I always say it’s down to execution. Really, certain things can open doors for you, but if you are not good at what you do and if you are not viable with your skills as an individual, then you won’t be able to keep the door open.
The truth is that, I’ve been doing this for a while and I think I’ve become bigger and better, I’m not the type of person that gets too comfortable, I keep pushing myself hard every time. Why I prefer my craft I think it’s important to follow your heart and, like I always say, choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. It’s about personal fulfillment because that’s all that matters.
Why all my mix-tapes have ‘House Music’ feel
In the last 10 years, I’ve lived in London and moved to New York last year. It’s important to get inspiration from your environment. I’m also one of the people trying to open the minds of Nigerians to western music. Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa, we factor for 30% Internet usage, so there’s a lot of influence from the west that’s coming in and by putting the western influence in Nigeria through music.
I’m also an advocate of representing Nigeria wherever I DJ around the world, so it’s also important for me to have that exchange, that’s why I’m trying to bridge that gap. Then, also, it’s important for my brand to stand out. I want people to walk into an event and without seeing my face they should know it’s me playing through my sound.
How I got the deal to perform at Buhari’s inaugural ball
First, it’s important I explain that am a tourism ambassador for the Nigerian campaign and a lot of people ask how I came about. It happened when I released a song with Tunji Oyelana titled ‘I Love My Country’ which was a patriotic song that somehow got to the Minister of Tourism at that time, Mr. Edem Duke and they liked it.
So, with that song and my potential role as a tourism ambassador, the inauguration ball committee thought it would be great to have someone representing a new Nigeria and the female gender. Personally, I feel that a female DJ is unique and it was such an honour to be part of the presidential inauguration dinner and I look forward to working with the new tourism officials as well.
My relationship with Asa Asika
(Laughs) The story of Asa and me goes back a long way. We’ve known each other for more than 10 years, he’s such an inspirational figure and really I wouldn’t have been able to put together this tour without him. He’s such an ambitious person and I think between both of us, we have the commonality of being fighters and it’s also fantastic to have a friend on board. About your question, I’m not dating him and we’ve never dated.
My last relationship
That’s very hard to reminisce on because it’s been a long time ago, about two years back, I guess. For me, what’s worth doing at all is worth doing well, so in order to achieve what I want to achieve with my Cuppy brand, I have to put 100% into it.
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