The album makes me feel proud and the inspiration behind the album was to do something I always set out to do. I always wanted to have an album but I was scared and I felt lost within my sound. I’m so proud for everyone to hear the album and it is truly a journey of mixed emotions and mixed expressions and I really really won’t change anything for the world.
I’m proud of the collaborations, I’m proud of all the contributions from creatives to the producers to the song writers to even my publisher and my labor. It’s just become a family I put with a global output – my name is Cuppy and here’s a track-by-track breakdown of my debut album Original Copy
“Original Copy (Interlude)”
The interlude is a record that was inspired by my time in New York. I love hip hop and trap music is a genre I appreciate. The interlude is me saying to everyone, this is what original me is about and I’m dining a lot of new things. I’m addressing a lot of my haters, I’m addressing my relationship with my dad and many many more. Most importantly, I’m telling people that original me is here and here to stay.
“Jollof On The Jet”
At a time when there is so much uncertainty and people have been stuck at home, “Jollof On The Jet” is intended to just breathe some new life. The song is a record I’ve had for a very long time. It came about a real life journey. I was flying from Accra to Lagos with my producer, eating jollof on the plane and I just thought, ‘this is an amazing moment’.
People think that Africans are static and not global and I thought wow, I’m literally able to travel around the world to play Afrobeats and I felt like despite this and having that fast paced life, I’m still taking my ‘Africanism’ everywhere I go.
It’s an amazing contradiction where you can take Cuppy out of Africa but you can’t take the African out of Cuppy and that’s what it is about. It is a beautiful contradiction and my reality is “Jollof on the Jet”.
“Karma”
“Karma” was inspired by a trip to Stonebwoy’s studio. Stonebwoy is a dance hall king in his own right and Stonebwoy decided that he was going to push me. After two sessions, I was speaking like Cuppy that. This record is so exciting because it is showing Cuppy in a different light. It’s basically Cuppy meets Koffee.
“Piece Of You”
“Piece Of You” is a song that I’ve loved for a long time. It was actually co-written with my producer Bond and it just gave us a London flavor. I love Afro swing. I’ve been a huge fan of that genre and so making this track felt really organic. Ms Banks is an artist I’ve always wanted to work with and Ycee put his swag on it. I think it’s a triple threat and piece of you is definitely a song you want a piece of.
“Feel Good”
“Feel Good” is a track that honestly was inspired heavily on Fireboy’s side. Fireboy is having such an amazing career and he has such good positive energy and when I said I wanted to work with him, he had already started work on this record and wanted me to bring a different vibe to it.
I was able to really tap into that energy and we created this record based on just good vibes only. So, I think Fireboy really slayed this song and I just added more fuel to the fire.
“Litty Lit”
“Litty Lit” is a vey good vibe/party track. The best thing about being a DJ has always been the ability to take people on a journey and transport them to happy place for a few minutes regardless of whatever they are going through.
Teni, who us featured on the track, embodies that too. She reached out to me when I was feeling the pressure from the album and made me feel a lot better. I’m positive this track would always bring a smile to the faces of listener.
“54”
54 is inspired by our beautiful continent, Africa. The idea behind it is how Africa is 54 different flavors in one big pot and I really wanted to celebrate with legends. I had Sir Shina Peters and also Julian Marley celebrating Africa.
I think especially during a time when there is so much going on in the world, being proud of where you’re from or just being proud of your heritage or something you love is important. So let’s all take a quick trip to Africa.
“Labalaba”
“Labalaba” is my oldest song on the album. It’s a song I proudly wrote and also was co-written by Niniola. It’s about a butterfly leaving a trapped space and it was a song I I wrote when I was heart broken in a relationship about three years ago.
The idea is, it’s time to go and I’m going to fly away like a butterfly. The idea of flying away like a butterfly is really about with no regrets but with reflection and going on to better things
“Epe”
“Epe” is one of the most important tracks on my album because it’s my hometown, it’s the way you enter the project. This track was inspired by a trip to my hometown where a lot of field recording took place. I love this record because you can hear animals in my family farm, you can hear my grandma and you can hear myself struggling and receiving the most uplifting voice note from Efya.
I was so worried about completing my album and I asked Efya to be on this track because of her amazing voice and she sent me this voice note and I just had to put it on there because it shows the reality of life, you lose some, you win some. But with “Epe”, I think I’ve won.
“Guilty Pleasure”
“Guilty Pleasure” is a song with Nonso Amadi that basically displays our longing for each other despite knowing we are not good for each other. This record I sent to Nonso and he didn’t believe I was singing on it.
This is one of my favorite vocal displays on the album and I’ll say my guilty pleasure definitely is a certain man that is on and off in my life and it’s like pain and pleasure at the same time. I think the best thing about it is knowing that there is a guilt but then enjoying in the pleasure.
“Wale”
“Wale” is a classic record. It’s one of my favorite because the song has been through many phases. It was the first song I recorded for the album actually and Wyclef felt like such a far, long shot. Just reaching out to him, he loved and hopped on it.
He’s actually the first feature that recorded and when you have someone like Wyclef co-signing your song, you know you can do anything and I’m so proud. “Wale” tells a song about lovers being apart and coming together. This song was recorded at a time when I was very much in love
“Cold Heart Killer”
“Cold Heart Killer” is a song that you see bad girl Cuppy and there is a bad side of me sadly. I can be a heart breaker apparently. Darkoo felt like a perfect fit because Darkoo is a strong woman, she knows what she wants and it’s not about waiting, it’s about taking what is yours. This record has a pop feel and I know it’s going to be a hit amongst the girls.
Listen to my Original Copy album below!
