Superstar disc jockey, DJ Cuppy has highlighted the struggles of female musicians in Nigeria, saying sexism, harsh criticism, and gender discrimination is what they deal with on daily basis.
In an interview with Pulse, DJ Cuppy lamented that the music industry is male-dominated, as she maintained no department is in favour of female musicians, unlike the males.
Her words: “The music industry is clearly a male-dominated space and women have had to work twice as hard as our male colleagues to get the result we desire. The media already depicts a distorted view of a successful woman in the music industry due to its somewhat unprofessional nature.
“We have to deal with sexism, harsh criticism, and gender discrimination. Whether or not you’re in the forefront as an artiste, a DJ, a manager, or an agent.
“We can all agree that being in the music industry takes more than being passionate about the craft. You have to be resilient in a great amount and be a hard worker. For example, as a female artist, when you make a music video, the focus is not purely on the music. People are looking at how well your edges were laid, your makeup or how appropriate your outfit is, and a lot more.”
When asked why female artistes don’t collaborate with each other often, DJ Cuppy explained that there are multiple reasons why that don’t happen, which include -“the misconception that females are harder to work with, the fact that we are hugely under-represented and sometimes, and a little mix of unhealthy competition.”
“However, I’m glad that of recent, there has been a considerable increase in the number of female collaborations.
“I think now, more people have seen the magic that happens when women come together to work on a project and have decided to tap more into that. My debut EP, Original Copy features some of the most amazing female artists. I genuinely cannot wait for everyone to listen to the songs,” she added.