| DJ Cuppy |
Celebrity of the week is here again and this time Trackgist would be featuring a very unique Lady , producer, songwriter,Entrepreneur , talented , Beauty and brains and above all Music Lover. She is no other than the amazing DJ Cuppy.
Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola popularly known as DJ Cuppy was born November 11,1992. She was born to the oil mogul family of Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola and wife Nana Otedola.
Right from her childhood , DJ Cuppy has loved and been passionate about music. There was a period when her living room was turned into a studio and as we all can see she is playful , full of life what more can a parent desire from a child.
At the age of 6 , Cuppy and her dada , Femi Otedola had a good bondng , they both litened to Fela’s music with him in the car. Her dad is also her mentor as he also is passionate about music.
Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, grew up in Lagos state . DJ Cuppy lived in Ilupeju for 6 years before moving to ikeja and when she was 11 Cuppy headed to London for her GCSE. she has lived half of her lives in Nigeria and London and presently Newyork.
Talking about what she does, Her music career began officially when she was 16 in London after purchasing some equipments and also played in Clubs. She started her career in music by playing the piano , then the beat making bug struck her..
At the age 17 , Cuppy had already become a household name playing at some of top nightclubs and events in London.
Dj Cuppy ,the Nigerian-born international disc jockey travels regularly for work while studying for a Master’s Degree at the New York University.
Over the past year, she has entertained at elite events such as the Financial Times Luxury Summit in Mexico City, the MTV Africa Music Awards in Durban, the Oil Barons Charity Ball in Dubai and many more.
Florence Otedola derived her stage name from the word Cupcake. As she said in an interview
WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG 15, I WAS OBSESSED WITH CUPCAKE. BECAUSE OF THAT I CHOOSE DJ CUPCAKE BUT LATER ASKED MYSELF IF IT IS A NAME I WOULD STILL LIKE WHEN I GROW OLDER. AND WHEN MY FRIENDS STARTED CALLING ME ALL SORTS OF NAMES BECAUSE OF THE NAME I CHANGED IT TO CUPPY.
Cuppy has decscribed her sound as Neo-Afrobeats which combines Afrobeats with Electric House and is a rare , unique genre of music .
Right after her graduation from Kings College London , Cuppy released her mixtape –HOUSE OF CUPPY. She was Talented DJ Cuppy was also appointed one of the Nigerian Tourism Ambassadors by the Honorable Minister for Culture.
2014 was a really good year for the young DJ Cuppy as that was when she beacame well-known in the Nigeria scene.
She was the resident DJ at the 2014 MTV Africa Music Awards that held in Durban.I was surprised she was chosen , everyone expeceted the other Top Dj’s like DJ Jimmy Jatt, DJ Xclusive, DJ Spinall, DJ Humility etc and she proved herself to be worth it.
Not just that she also played at the Tatler and Christie’s Art Ball in London , and also at the Financial Times Luxury Summit in Mexico City.
April 2014 , Florence Otedola was awarded tourism Ambassador for Nigeria by the Minister for Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke..
July 2014 , Cuppy graduated from Kings college London with a 2.1 honors degree in Business and Economic, So Shes not only beautiful but got the brains.
In 2014 , DJ Cuppy unveiled her project which she has worked on for months , House of Cuppy which is a House mix of Nigerian songs by artistes including Tiwa Savage, Kcee, Naeto C featuring D’banj, Dr Sid, Alexandra Burke, Chidinma, Wizkid, illBliss and Suspect..
Neglecting her billionaire background , florence decided to pick a career for herself . Interestingly , Cuppy has been round the world of entertainment , from scriptwriting, to music to Disc Jockeying.
The first volume of ‘House of Cuppy’ successfully launched in London, New York and Lagos in 2014 and features a compilation of remixes of chart-topping tracks from the likes of D’Banj, Tiwa Savage and Wikzkid. The mix has accumulated more than 50,000 listens and 9,000 downloads online.
DJ Cuppy has not only showed her talent in events like birthdays, weddings,but also in well-known clubs in Paris, New York and Dubai etc. She has had the utmost privilegde to entertaining global diplomats and international representatives under her belt at the events such as the Financial Times Luxury Summit and Christie’s Art Bal.
May 2015 , Cuppy was featured in the April/ May edition of the Forbes Magazine just like her father who was also featured in November 2014 edition of the Forbes magazine.. So we can say like father like daughter.
DJ Cuppy is not only known for her Music talent but also for her good looks. Cuppy has always been stylish with her perfect sense of fashion ..
Cuppy has been doing music for over five years now. Professionally, I started just over a year ago. I dropped my first single last year, called I love my country. The song was originally done by Tunji Oyelana and was written by Wole Soyinka.
In an interview with Encomiuim Weekly She says;
“There are times when I go to an event and I am with my manager, they look at him and not me. There is this assumption that I can’t be the DJ. It’s something they don’t expect. But I love my job, yes!”.
“I am lucky to have supportive parents. What stops young people from following their passion is the lack of support, not necessarily financial support. I have the most amazing team and people around me always advice me.
DJ Cuppy who plans to run her own business someday has taken a step to further her studies and widen her knowledge on music.
Another driving force and backbone apart from her zeal is her parents. Right from inception , Cuppy has has the support undiluted support of her parents. She calls them in her own words – the most supportive team in the world
Dj Cuppy is a proof that what a man can do a woman can do better as she has proven her self strong and succesful in the male domineering field of Disc-Jockeying.
Dj Cuppy is an entrepreneur and focused lady . In 2014 she launched her own label , Red Velvet Music Group which is a content production and music management business. In an interview with Vanguard she revealed that she has a 10 year plan to change the face of entrainment in Nigeria.
On how long she intends to pursue her career:
“THAT IS WHY I STARTED MY MUSIC COMPANY. AS FAR AS NIGERIAN MUSICAL CONTENT IS CONCERNED, THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL HERE.I WANT TO TAKE NIGERIA TO OTHER PLACES THAT HAVE DIFFERENT SOUNDS, AND WITH MY JOB I AM SO FORTUNATE TO TRAVEL AROUND. WE UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF MUSIC HERE, PEOPLE USE MUSIC TO INTERACT.
A lot of music artistes waste away because they are not well protected. So, my 10-year plan is to bring all these into the Nigerian entertainment scene.”
On recieving support from her folks: “I am lucky to have supportive parents. What stops young people from following their passion is the lack of support, not necessarily financial support. I have the most amazing team and people around me always advice me.
MY PARENTS PUSH ME TO BE A BETTER VERSION OF ME, I AM NOT TRYING TO BECOME SOMEONE ELSE BUT JUST BEING MYSELF .
