Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola (born 11 November 1992), professionally known as DJ Cuppy, is a Nigerian disc jockey and producer. She is the daughter of billionaire, oil business tycoon, and philanthropist Femi Otedola. Since coming into the Nigerian music scene, DJ Cuppy has been one of the most hardworking females in the industry. It is very clear that she is not reliant on her family’s wealth as she looks to build her own empire. She grew up in Lagos and moved to London at the age of 13.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
DJ Cuppy was born to Femi Otedola and his wife, Nana Otedola, on the 11th of November 1992, in Lagos State, Nigeria. She is the second child of four children born to her parents. Her other siblings are Tolani Olawunmi Christie, Prince Fewa, and Temi Otedola. She lived with her family in Ilipeju for six years before they relocated to Ikeja, where she had her early education. The stage name Cuppy came out of her love for cupcakes, red velvet to be precise. Her record label is aptly named Red Velvet music group.
DJ Cuppy completed her elementary education in Lagos before moving to the UK. She attended Grange School, Ikeja. When she was 13 years old, she and her family moved to the United Kingdom where she sat for her GSCEs and A levels. She went ahead to study Business and Economics at the fourth oldest higher institution of learning in the United Kingdom, Kings College London. She graduated from the university in 2014.
During her college years, Cuppy became known for her DJing skills and was sought after to perform at clubs and event places in London. What first started as a hobby when she was going to school, has now grown to be a full-blown career for the billionaire heiress. This led her to try to master the business side of the music industry by enrolling for a master’s degree in Music Business at New York University, USA. She then interned at Jay-Z’s Roc Nation headquarters where she got first-hand experience on how the international music industry works.
CAREER
In 2014 Cuppy was the resident DJ at the MTV Africa Music Awards in Durban. She then played at the Tatler and Christie’s Art Ball in London, and at the Financial Times Luxury Summit in Mexico City. In July 2014, she released House of Cuppy as her first compilation mix in London and Lagos, before launching it in New York on 2 September 2014. With House of Cuppy, she produced EDM-Esque remixes of songs by leading Afropop artists.
That same year, Cuppy also launched the London-based music management and content production business, Red Velvet Music Group In January 2015, Cuppy was featured on the cover of the Guardian Life magazine. The cover celebrated a new generation of African women. In March 2015, Cuppy was named the official DJ for the 2015 Oil Barons Charity in Dubai and became the first African act to perform at the event. She was featured in the 2015 April/May issue of Forbes Woman Africa. In June 2015, Cuppy released House of Cuppy II. In August 2015, Cuppy set off on her first DJ tour to 8 countries in Africa, titled “Cuppy Takes Africa”.
She visited Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Africa. The “Cuppy Takes Africa” tour included performances, major artist collaborations, and charitable engagements supported by GTB Bank and the Dangote Foundation. Later that year, she interned at Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. In October 2016, the “Cuppy Takes Africa” tour aired on Fox Life Africa as an 8-episode documentary series. In 2016, Cuppy was the resident DJ for MTV2’s Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne Tha God. She produced two songs, “Vibe” and “The way I am”, which appeared on the “Afrobeats” EP by Young Paris which was released on 24 March 2017. On 13 October 2017, she released “Green Light”, her first official single. The song features guest vocals from Nigerian singer and producer Tekno. On 30 March 2018, she released “Vybe”, her second official single.
The song features guest vocals from Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie On 24 August 2018, she released Currency, her third official single featuring L.A.X. On 5 October 2018, she released Werk, her fourth single featuring Skuki. On 19 April 2019, she collaborated with Kwesi Arthur for her fifth single Abena On 16 August 2019, she released Gelato, her sixth single featuring Zlatan. In 2020, Cuppy was inducted into Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 class. On 28 May 2020, she became the host of ‘Africa Now Radio’ on Apple Music Beats 1 On 16 July 2020, she released Jollof On The Jet, her seventh single featuring Rema & Rayvanny. On 24 August 2020, she unveiled her debut album Original Copy. In February 2021, she partnered with Apple Music to launch their first radio show in Africa. In September 2021, Cuppy was announced as one of the cast members for the Channel 4 reality TV show High Life, a show focussing on the careers of British West Africans. From January until August 2022, Cuppy hosted the Sunday version of BBC Radio 1Xtra’s breakfast show with the Saturday one hosted by Swarzy formerly of Kiss Radio. They both replaced Remi Burgz, who went on to replace Yasmin Evans on 1Xtra’s weekday lunchtime show.
PERSONAL LIFE
Cuppy has been in a couple of high-profile relationships. She has been romantically linked with talent manager Asa Asika, and the Nigerian international footballer Victor Anichebe. She has also been rumored to be in relationships with celebrities like Broda Shaggi, Fireboy, Anthony Joshua, Ice Prince, Korede Bello, Sean Tizzle, and Olamide. Below are the details of some of the relationships she has been linked to and her stand on each of them.
Asa Asika
Asa Asika and DJ Cuppy met through a friend and they built a relationship after their meeting. She revealed how long she has been dating Asa in a post on Instagram. The on-and-off relationship started back in 2011 and they were lovebirds until their breakup.
There was controversy in 2018, DJ Cuppy agreed that she messed up the relationship with Asa Asika, Davido’s manager. After the breakup, Asika posted on Twitter that he bought Cuppy four iPhones without buying any for himself. In a response to that claim, Cuppy said that she begged for an iPhone but he refused to buy it for her.
NET WORTH
DJ Cuppy is currently one of the richest and most influential female artists and DJ in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of ₦700 Million.
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