Biggest company in the world, Apple Music, is launching its first radio show in Africa on Sunday and DJ Cuppy, whose real name is Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, is its host.
The streaming platform announced Thursday that “Africa Now Radio with Cuppy” will debut Sunday and will feature a mix of contemporary and traditional popular African sounds, including genres like latest African sounds, be it amapiano, afrobeats, highlife, alte, house, hip-hop, afrobongo, or kuduro and more.
Listeners will hear the latest and greatest African artistes and new forms of African popular music which fuse traditional and contemporary sensibilities, morphing into hybridised sonic fragments connecting all corners of Africa.
Cuppy, the Nigerian-born DJ and music producer, will host the weekly one-hour show, which will be available at 9am EDT.
“The show represents a journey from West to East and North to South, but importantly a narrative of Africa then to Africa now,” Cuppy said in a statement.
African music and artistes have found success outside of the continent and onto the pop charts in both the US and the UK in recent years. Acts like Drake and Beyoncé have borrowed the sound for their own songs, while performers like South African DJ Black Coffee as well as Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Mr Eazi — all with roots in Nigeria — continue to gain attention and have become household names.
Apple Music’s announcement comes the same week Universal Music Group said it was launching Def Jam Africa, a new division of the label focused on representing hip-hop, Afrobeat and trap talent in Africa. The label said it will be based in Johannesburg and Lagos but plans to sign talent from all over the continent. The deal is said to be worth seven digit figure.
Cuppy, the celebrity DJ daughter of Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola, is unstoppable. By this deal Cuppy is bringing the world to Africa as she is now the face and voice behind Apple Music’s new radio show called ‘Africa Now’. Apple Music is a global music platform with 60 million listeners from over 160 countries worldwide and over 30 countries in Africa alone. Cuppy will be DJing all genres of African music weekly whilst entertaining the listeners with interviews between her fellow artist friends.
Cuppy has been on the rise and in her DJ and music producing career earning important endorsements. Her deal with global giant like Apple is indeed a crowning endorsement.
“I’m excited not only to play music but showcase the vast array of talented artists cultivating the music scene on the continent!” Cuppy was quoted to have said in the statement released by Apple. “There are so many rich textures and sounds in Africa and the time is now for the world to embrace our diversity. Each and every week I’ll be bringing a dynamic guide to discovering and celebrating the biggest and best sounds from across Africa, the Motherland. It will be entertainment at its best, Cuppy style!”
On the debut episode, Nigerian producer Kiddominant – known for producing African hits such as Davido’s “Fall” and AKA’s “Fela In Versace” – joins Cuppy via FaceTime. He tells Apple Music about his new single ‘eWallet’ featuring South African superstar rapper Cassper Nyovest and taken from his forthcoming debut album due for release in the second half of 2020. South African actress and ‘Queen Sono’ lead character Pearl Thusi calls in to share her favorite African proverb and current favorite African song.
Cuppy plays the best and hottest African music throughout the show and finishes off with a personalised 10-minute DJ mix of tracks from the Africa Now playlist.
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