DJ Cuppy Interview: How the name DJ Cuppy came about,… what family, education mean to her

Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, popularly known as DJ Cuppy

DJ Cuppy Interview:  How the name DJ Cuppy came about,… what family, education mean to her

Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, popularly known as DJ Cuppy, daughter of Nigerian oil magnate, Femi Otedola, in this Interview with BBC Newsday’s Alan Kasujja, speaks about her life and family, how her name DJ Cuppy came about and what her education means to her. Excerpts:

BBC Newsday: How did your name DJ Cuppy come about?

My name, DJ Cuppy comes from an interesting story. When I was younger, when I was doing my GCSE’s and, in the UK, I was obsessed with cupcakes at the time. Which is quite funny. It obviously started as a little nickname but it has turned into a brand. And it was DJ Cupcake in the beginning. Now, it’s just DJ Cuppy. As a female DJ, it’s definitely challenging. I do feel like being in a male dominated industry, you know, I kinda have to work twice as hard to get half of much done. But then, things are changing. I remember when I started DJ’ing, people would look at me, like, what are you doing? You know, this is not meant for you. I always say it’s similar to being a female pilot on the plane where there is such a gender bias towards one side. But I think that I’m proving people wrong with what I’m doing. I am showing that us women can do it. And I think as an African woman as well, I am representing around the world.

BBC Newsday: You are that typical Nigerian girl whose parents would tell, you have to go to school, and then after you are done with school… let me see, there is a Business Degree from King’s College, London and a Master’s in Music from New York, and yet now, you are a musician and a DJ. Are the Degrees important? Why?

Yes, like you say, I’m fortunate enough to have two Degrees. They are important. I’m an advocate for education because, yes, right now, I am sitting down here, I may not be using my Economics Degree per se but I can tell you that education has given me the discipline and structure that I’ve needed to take on the world, globally. I do not think that I would have achieved what I could by the age of 25 without education.

BBC Newsday: You don’t need to work that hard, you know, you come from a pretty well to do family. Your father is one of the wealthiest Africans on the continent…

If anything, it makes me want to work hard, you know, I have seen my dad and I am lucky to have a role model like him in my life. I’ve seen him day in day out never get comfortable, you know, he still wakes up by 5:00 am to go to work. So, I feel like that actually makes me want to hustle and anything worth doing is worth doing well. So, I’m taking my DJ’ing and my brand very seriously. You know, I am viewing it as creative entrepreneurship.  Interview by BBC, transcribed by Discover Africa News.