DJ Cuppy isn’t new to the music industry, neither is she old but during her time in the music scene she has seen her fair share of criticisms. But did her debut album, “Original Copy” help matters?
DJ Cuppy first came into the music scene as a Disc Jockey and the daughter of the famous billionaire, Femi Otedola. When she ventured into releasing music, her first official single, “Green Light” featuring Tekno was well received for its amazing composition.
However, the rest songs like Vybe, Currency, Gelato, Werk, Abena, didn’t receive the same reception. Where they terrible; no – the songs just didn’t have the same weight “Green Light” had.
It didn’t help her father was rich as shades began to fly about her being popular just because of her father and not because of her ‘non-existent’ talent. But she won’t be the first to be roasted for having rich parents, Davdo was a victim but look at him now.
The saying “What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger” applies in this case. Cuppy took the shades, criticisms, insults and made her mind to fire back at trolls by dropping an album.
Making Original Copy didn’t come without its challenges. Earlier in 2020, the Disc Jockey via her Twitter revealed to fans that guest artists were holding her back as they were yet to send in their vocals. Back then, fans were in the dark as to who was featured in her debut album.
Fast forward to August, DJ Cuppy finally dropped the album that could prove her detractors right or wrong.
However, she had dropped a taste of the album in the form of “Jollof on the Jet” featuring Rema and Rayvanny. Which were amazing, fans were beginning to regain hope that she would a success story like Davido.
While Cuppy might not have contributed much in terms of vocals which fell on Rema and Rayvanny to do, the concept was hers, and picking the right artists to make it work, was no small feat.
“Jollof on the Jet” is probably the song with the potentials of being a commercial success compared to the rest.
She followed with “Karma” featuring Ghanaian dancehall star, Stonebwoy. The Reggae filled song showed how much chemistry the two artists and Cuppy’s surprising vocal range.
In “Wale”, she features American legendary rapper, Wyclef Jean who carries most of the burden of selling the song.
“Epe” which serves as the intro into the album features Ghanaian songstress, Efya. Cuppy talks about her heritage and her love for the place. The upbeat song doesn’t have any main vocals just background vocals but still doesn’t stop its listener from grooving to it.
Fireboy DML comes through in “Feel Good” which actually makes one feel good. Not much of Cuppy is heard on this song but her vocals are still heard in the background. I appreciate the fact that she was wise enough to let Fireboy lead the way.
“Cold Heart Killer” (a personal favorite) is an electronic charged song in which Cuppy and Darkoo band together to deliver a club-worthy song. The lyrics and composition of this song are quite impressive.
P.O.Y featuring Ycee and Ms Banks is a song where the chemistry is evident. Litty Lit featuring Teni is a fuji inspired song that is sure to make you dance. Teni brings the big guns for this one. Cuppy injects her sunny nature on the chorus singing, “ah, ayoyoyo, make we just dey faaji go/ no stress and no sorrow…”
Producer and singer, Nonso Amadi has hearts racing with his chilling voice on “Guilty Pleasure” with Cuppy on a verse, hook, and the chorus. Seyi Shay makes her input on the smooth “Labalaba” while the song is being overshadowed by the other impressive tracks, it still an improvement.
“54” an homage to the Africa continent is quite the track that makes the unusual combination Reggae star, Julian Marley and Fuji Maestro, Sir Shina Peters sellable. The song is the biggest sign of Cuppy’s improvement in artistry and evolution in the music industry.
The lovely part of “Original Copy” is the selection of artists for the album. Cuppy in an interview had revealed that the selected artists were picked for different purposes to bring her vision to life.
Cuppy did an impressive job with her debut album, fusing different genres and pairing exciting musicians with notable producers.
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The album also allows the strength of artists to shine through something I haven’t seen since Greenlight where Tekno brought his expertise to the song.
This writer’s prediction is “Original Copy” would rake in awards definitely this year or the next. My only advice to Cuppy would be not to rest on just this but keep churning tunes way bigger than this. But for now, trolls can be held back with this.
While the album isn’t the only rebranding tool she is using, she has removed the DJ from her name all over social media and her music, now going by Cuppy which is a sign that she has fully made the switch to mainstream music and would not remain a DJ who just get artists on songs like DJ Spinall, DJ Neptune, DJ Xclusive and the rest.
In a recent Instagram post, she said told her father she doesn’t need him anymore, if she keeps up with this path, she might not need him and maybe finally shake off her father’s shadow.