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Entertainment of Friday, 7 May 2021

Source: misspetitenaijablog.com

'My first, only heartbreak was at 18; I break the hearts these days' – DJ Cuppy

DJ Cuppy play videoDJ Cuppy

Prominent disc jockey and entertainer, DJ Cuppy, has addressed the negativity that tailed her activism during the anti-police brutality End SARS protests that rocked the nation last year’s October.

DJ Cuppy aired her opinion in an interview with UK-based show, Presenting, which was published on Thursday.

In the interview, she also recounts her experience of racism in the United Kingdom and touches on the influence of Fela on her music.

Speaking on her role during End SARS, the 28-year-old turntablist said, “I have a responsibility as a Nigerian to do what I can to raise awareness, and also do what I can to make sure that people know what is going on.”

DJ Cuppy said that she’s been accused of not grasping the reality which birthed the End SARS movement due to her privilege. She, however, denounced the claim, asserting that it’s a reality which “affects everybody.

“A lot of people have spoken to me about it, and they have actually accused me of not understanding it because of my influence and my positioning. I’ve never been stopped by SARS before but my team has, my friends have, and it’s really important that people understand that just because I haven’t had it happen directly to me, doesn’t mean that I can’t understand. So for me, I think it’s a problem that affects everybody.”

DJ Cuppy was one of many public figures who’d lent support to the End SARS protest last October. On October 18, wearing a disguise of a hoodie, a baseball cap, and sun shades, the disc jockey made an unobserved appearance at the Lekki Toll Gate, which was the hub of the Lagos protests.

However, she would first register her support for the protests in a tweet published on October 9: “Going against the advice of those around me, but it doesn’t feel right. Silence can say so much. My fellow Nigerians, forgive me for taking so long to comment…

“I would [be] lying if I said I’m DIRECTLY affected by SARS but a lot of my Cupcakes are and that’s enough for me to care. I stand behind the movement to #EndPoliceBrutality AND #EndSARS.”

Although praised by many at the time for her support, she’d equally received lots of flak from social media users who believed she was too privileged and unable to truly empathise with the End SARS campaign.

In the interview with Presenting, Cuppy also spoke about her experiences of racial prejudice since moving to the UK at age 13.

“For me, it was very difficult because growing up in Nigeria, I didn’t really experience racism,” she said. “My teachers were black, the doctors were black, lawyers were black. So, moving to the UK, and especially moving to the US, is really where I started to notice the disparity and where I really started to experience racism.”

“The minute I moved here, from thirteen in boarding school, I always realised. It was pointed out that I looked different, I sounded different, my background was different, my culture was different. And no amount of money, no amount of positioning can ever change that.”

She added that in spite of what many think, she still has to “kick down doors” in the entertainment industry.

In the rest of the interview, DJ Cuppy mused on Fela’s influence on her musical sensibility, hailed Burna Boy as a “phenomenal artist”, and revealed that she is close to and working on a project with the latter’s sister, Nissi.

The newly published interview was originally recorded last November, some days after the viral End SARS protests.

“My first and only heartbreak was at 18, Now I Break The Hearts These Days” – DJ Cuppy also shared her heartbreak experience at 100 Level at the University.